TELEVISION EVEN WORSE THAN USUAL

Am I alone in believing that television offerings over the Christmas period have been even worse than usual ?

The usual repeats of classical favourites from Morecambe and Wise to Ben Hur may appeal to those few who have never before seen them but to anyone old enough to have seen the originals, now several dozen times, they are no longer the attraction they once were. Indeed, that such programmes continue to be re-broadcast year after year surely only serves to demonstrate how poor more modern programming has become.

This year, the Queen's Christmas Message has been the most watched programme in the UK with a little over 8 million reported viewers; long gone are the days when Her Majesty commanded at least twice that number of adherents, while Morecambe and Wise came close to 3 times as many. While it has to be admitted that times have changed along with viewing habits, does no one at the now hundreds of television channels not realise that their diet of cheap thrills, 'reality shows' and repeats appeals to a smaller audience every year ? Do none of them consider that there might be an alternative ?

Much of modern television seems to be aimed at children - is this an attempt to use the old Jesuit approach of "give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man" - while modern comedy is almost entirely aimed at an audience of children and others of a puerile mind set, with an emphasis on crudity and bodily functions. Modern drama is aimed at those who favour crudity, nudity, overt displays of sexual activity and foul language in preference to solid storylines, real acting and proper scripts. Modern documentaries are top heavy with the most recent left wing fad, be it issues of supposed equality, discrimination, racial injustice. gender, or God knows what else. Is it any surprise that the majority of the population have turned away from mainstream television ?

I find myself hunting through hundreds of channels in search of something to watch and almost inevitably end up watching something I recorded previously, often weeks, months or even years ago. As someone who has paid his television licence dutifully and without fail for many decades, I find it galling that my likes are now superceded by vast quantities of animated tripe served up to satisfy hordes of children whose parents should be taking the trouble to entertain them rather than dumping them in front of a television and telling them to watch and shut up.

This year's offerings seem to have been even more limited. Yes, we've had the usual 'great' films - Ben Hur, Spartacus, It's a Wonderful Life (all of which I love but have seen many times), etc., but what else has there been? The simple answer is "Very little". With so many of us effectively housebound and isolated, could those to whom we pay licence fees and subscriptions not have come up with something better, at least for this most difficult of years ? Could Sky and the like not have foregone some small part of their massive profits to provide something more attractive and greater appeal ? Could not the BBC have done something to advance the cause of real television rather than broadcasting nothing but their usual offering of repeats of Morecambe and Wise, the same old films, assorted cookery programmes and the drivel that is claimed to be 'reality' ? Have I watched the BBC over the last 2 days ? I think not, at all, which is a shocking indictment when I would once have watched nothing else.

Some modern 'progressives' love to refer to things and services as being 'broken'; they will tell us minions that the immigration system, Home Office, benefits system or whatever else is broken or 'not fit for purpose'; how about adding that the BBC and overall broadcasting services in this country are on that list and even lead it ?