I never thought I would end up writing this comment in all seriousness, but when did day time television get good - have I missed something?!
It was last Friday (8/10/10) and over the course of about 2 ½ I was exposed to some really high end television. All repeats – extremely repeatious in fact, given that almost the entire bill I am raving about dated from the 1960s – but nevertheless of high quality.
To start off with there was a personal favourite: Randell and Hopkirk deceased (the original). This series was made circa 1969 and has aged very well. Naturally the cars and other props would now be considered highly collectable; but the basics of the plot and script are almost timeless. The exploration of ghosts and afterlives, which was I think a major part of the programme’s appeal, remains emmantly watchable.
Then, who should show up, but an old Friend of Television “The Prisoner”. Again, this rather unusual series was first broadcast in 1967-8. Although the main actor and author of the series Patrick Goohan died recently, the programmes themselves retain their vitality and perspicacity 43 years on. They tell the story of man who formerly worked for the government, as some kind of spy; but who has been sent to an island because the government is suspicious about his motives for resigning from his post. Each episode is about the governmental forces trying to make him release his secret; whilst he tries to retain his right to privacy. The series is very conspicuous, especially amongst modern films, for its lack of violence. Guns I don’t think ever appear on the programme, one of the recurrent themes of the programme being passive resistence to authority – defeating it with its own mistakes. To anyone who has not watched them, they come highly recommended.
Other programmes of conspicuous quality also presented themselves for inspection– on Yesterday (the new name for the history channel I understand) and BBC Four. A good programme came on at about 2-3 about the Royal Navy and specifically its part in promulgating the awful Opium Wars on China: essentially the time where Britain and the USA took it upon themselves to attack China for closing off trade with both of them owing to paying for Chinese produce with opium rather than money! In the evening, there was a wonderful programme about reading Churches. I was left at the end of the actually thinking I had genuinely been entertained and acutally learnt something from the flickering box - rare feelings indeed with the likes of Big Bov'er and X Floppers.
For the first time in really a very long while, I actually found myself wanting to stay with the television as it seemed liked all the good programmes had been reserved for one day! Rarely in the last 3 years have I watched more than one programme in a sitting and left feeling that there were still good reasons to stay infront of the television.
So, if there are any television execs reading this – you have been told what we want!!
