There was some criticism in the papers about the Andy Millman speech in the final ever episode of Extras but for me, and some other people judging by the response of Joe Public, it summed up everything that is wrong about our society. What's worse is that we are all complicit in this dumbing down and yet at the same time reluctant to take a stand by actively boycotting the 'red tops'. Every morning when I buy my copy of the Independent or The Times I can't fail to notice the lack of news on the front of some papers, I make this observation not to take the higher moral ground but simply to point out the sad fact of where journalism is going.
Television highlights for me this year included Charlie Brooker's Screen Wipe, Harry Hill's TV Burp, The Mighty Boosh, Lead Balloon, Criminal Minds, Bones, CSI and Extras. In addition to the above excerpt from the Christmas special Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais also managed to write one of the most genuinely moving scenes I have ever seen in a British comedy in an episode that featured a young actress who suffers from cerebral palsy, it wasn't mawkish or condescending but the sentiment of somebody who hoped that when she died she would enjoy a better after life than the one she had enjoyed/endured whilst alive was very beautifully played. Life on Mars finished its second series with a crackerjack of an episode, The Street came back for more and Billie Piper reprised her role as Sally Lockhart. The Christmas Dr.Who was one of the biggest letdowns of the year, proving that special effects and a leading lady who patently can't act, do not a good show make.
Among the better use of my licence fee money this year were two documentaries on the History channel. The first, broadcast on Remembrance Sunday, was about the last few survivors of Passchendale. The final five minutes where the last surviving Tommy met the last surviving Hun was one of those television moments watched through tear stained fingers and blurred vision. The second best documentary was a two hour special (if that's the right word) on the bombing of Dresden, with contributions from survivors on both sides plus film of Bomber Harris explaining the decision to try and wipe the East German city off the map. The fact that so much destruction was achieved in under twenty five minutes left me with a genuine sense of awe.
The downside for me this year has been the proliferation of 'reality' shows or shows featuring celebrities. I know this is going to seem hypocritical but the ratio of one good show (Who Do You Think You Are?) to about thirty crap (various dancing shows, X Factor, I'm a Celeb, The Two of Us etc etc) just adds to a general feeling of despair. All these shows do is add to the public image and personal wealth of such intellectual dwarfs as Simon Cowell, Tess Daly, Ant and Dec etc - people queue up to attack the BBC for dumbing down whilst at the same time watching Strictly Come Dancing in their millions.
Setanta gate crashed the televised football party and their coverage this far has been good, not just the English Premiership but also football from France, Scotland, Holland, Germany plus the in-house stations of Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. Channel 5 began broadcasting Serie A again this year and so it is now possible to watch all 5 of the big leagues in Europe without leaving the house.
I made a conscious effort this year to abandon the 5Live Breakfast Show and go back to Radio 4 and the Today programme. I'd finally had enough of Nicky Campbell's stupidity and attempts at humour, he managed to make that fat Irish bloke on GMTV look like Dr Bronowski with his inane prattlings whilst trying to impress the ever impressionable Shelagh Fogerty. Drive saw the departure of Jane Garvey and having spent the best part of a week suffering in the company of Anita Anand and Asmah Mir I switched to Talksport's Drive programme. Ian Wright and Adrian Durham might not do serious news but their roster of guests this past year has been mightily impressive with most of the England football team phoning in, that plus the famous Adrian Durham encounter with Jamie Carragher.
Radio Two and 6Radio in the evening have been the hosts to some of the best music I've heard this year, the Stuart Maconie/Mark Radcliffe 'dream team' has been inspired at times even if some of the jokes are a little laboured at times.
On Radio 4 this November I heard one of the most interesting and worrying conversations I think I have heard for a long time. It involved an American military advisor who was talking about the whole of the middle east, from the West Bank, via Syria, Iran and on to Pakistan. Bearing in mind that the programme was broadcast some two months before the murder of Benazier Bhutto, his final words that 'Pakistan is a powder keg with a greater potential for death than we have ever seen before in that region, and I include both Iraq and Afghanistan in that,' were among the most chilling I have heard.
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