LABYRINTH : MORE CHANNEL 4 NONSENSE.

The labyrinthine and wholly muddled story of the latest Channel 4 offering, 'Labyrinth', seems to be an attempt to meld Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code' with Ken Follett's 'Pillars of the Earth'. Whether or not this is the case, the result is so confused as to be neither fish nor fowl; it is rubbish.

 

While the actors in the medieval scenes wear medieval clothing, the women luxuriate in 21st century makeup; lipstick, eye shadow and plucked eyebrows abound, none of which would have seen the light of day during the 13th century. The men behave as if they are 21st century 'lads' with not a thought for the surroundings in which they are supposed to be. The players in the modern era seem to be an odd assortment of naive youngsters and menacing mafia types, interspersed with the occasional 'femme fatale'; the story has no discernible thread to follow or logic.

 

All-in-all, this mini-series is the type of pseudo-historical drama of which television production companies should be ashamed. It is drivel. I have not read, and have no wish to read, the original novel written by Kate Mosse and cannot comment on the accuracy with which the novel has been translated to film; the book may well be much better, though I doubt it. It seems to me that the author has drawn inspiration from other sources and the production company has followed suit. The result is something that has no literary or televisual merit though it will probably gain approval from the unwashed masses who more usually find comfort in 'Coronation Street' or 'Eastenders'.

 

Why-oh-why are we subjected to this tripe?

 

 

CALL THE MIDWIFE !

I frequently find the BBC to be very deficient in a whole variety of ways, but I have to admit that, now and then, they come up trumps.

 

They do have a virtual monopoly on top quality when it comes to scientific documentaries and at least some of their political coverage is pretty good. The problems seem to arise in the areas of soaps and dramas where their performance  is extremely hit or miss - the soaps are universally appalling while the dramas are sometimes terrific and sometimes dreadful.

 

'Ripper Street' is a classic example of utter rubbish, a series which has no discernible historic truth beyond its setting. It is tripe of an almost unbelievable nature designed purely to attract an audience of the illiterate and uneducated masses, those who have no idea whatsoever of the realities of the times but are only too happy to be entertained by a programme which relocates the wild west to east London.

 

At the other end of the spectrum is 'Call the Midwife'. This is a series which is so evocative of past times and so real that it is almost unreal. The casting is superb as are the performances; the storylines, so far, are utterly believable and anyone who experienced those times, the 1950s, or has any feeling for them, can do nothing but be drawn in to the drama and pathos. This series is, without doubt, one of the greatest in the BBC's long history.

 

'Call the Midwife' is brilliant. My one fear is that, if it continues for too long, it will become no more than another drama-soap, a means of attracting an audience of ever decreasing understanding. The storylines will be subverted for the usual BBC left-leaning causes and it will degenerate into the usual tripe. Please, please, please, don't let this happen. The series is far too good for that; it needs no embellishment or sensationalism. When it's run its natural course, let it go, but, with luck, that could be a little while yet.