Drama is show’s big cell
I’M NOT entirely sure what INSIDE PRISON: BRITAIN BEHIND BARS (ITV, 9pm) is hoping to achieve. Filmed over six months at six different prisons, it paints a bleak and often harrowing picture of modern-day prison life, particularly when it comes to violence, threats to staff and the proliferation of drugs.
But while I don’t doubt the authenticity of what we’re seeing, it’s not clear if this is intended to reflect the day-to-day norm or the most extreme examples of what goes on in these places.
After all, six months of filming in six prisons will have left the makers with an absolute mountain of footage.
Quite a lot of it, I suspect, will be just plain dull. I wonder whether the series plans to reflect that as well.
I’ve noticed that THE CAMERON YEARS (BBC1, 9pm) carries a warning if you watch it on the iPlayer. “Contains some upsetting scenes,” it advises. I take it that’s the BBC’s little joke.
Anyway, following an opening episode that focused almost exclusively on the build-up to the Brexit referendum, the concluding part does a slightly weird thing, in that it takes us many years backwards in time.
I don’t mean in the sense that Jeremy Corbyn is currently planning for the country, but simply by recalling when David Cameron became Tory leader, back in 2005.
Under Tony Blair, Labour had won three general elections on the trot, leaving the Tories not only in the wilderness but facing an identity crisis. Cameron knew he had a major job on his hands.
And while he acknowledges now that he’ll forever be associated with the 2016 referendum, and with a result that he felt left him with no choice but to leave
No 10, he’d like to think there’s somewhat more to his legacy.
“I hope people will look back,” he says, “and see someone who came along and said he wanted to change the Conservative party, who wanted to modernise it, who wanted to get it back in the centre ground, who wanted it to serve the country again.And we did change those things.”
Elsewhere, WATCHDOG LIVE (BBC1, 8pm) is comparing our top supermarkets, not just price-wise but for customer service.
Good idea.The latter should be a key factor in determining where we shop.
Imagine, for example, that you’ve politely asked a member of staff if they know which aisle the corn flakes are in.
Bad customer service is when they reply: “Yes thanks mate”.
Good customer service is when they kindly lead you to the relevant shelf.
And the best is when they then add: “But you do know they’re 20p cheaper down the road..?”