Modern telly so Bradley in need
THIS is my column for this great newspaper.
700th
I’ve been reviewing TV for longer than most channels have existed. The questions I get asked most are: Why? How can you watch so much tripe? – I’ve cleaned that up – and doesn’t it drive you nuts? And that’s just my wife.
The simple answer is TV is the most exciting, daring and immediate entertainment form going. Even in this godforsaken year, Tiger King and Normal People got everyone talking. Once Upon A Time In Iraq was heart-breaking.
Cobra Kai was my latest guilty pleasure – I consumed two seasons of Netflix’s Karate Kid sequel at times only burglars are working.
Yes, much TV is dross. But great shows still punch through, from Succession to Chernobyl via Catastrophe, Line Of Duty and anything from Attenborough. When TV mucks up, it’s mainly due to the wrong people being in charge – people who know nothing about popular taste and prove it by making poor decisions.
BBC Comedy, once the licence fee’s greatest defence, has been neutered.
Reality TV, karaoke contests and celebrity travelogues have delighted us enough. Most modern British drama is either glorified soap or obsessed with gruesome crime.
ITV would never make a Minder now, or an Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
British telly’s first golden age gave us The Avengers, The Champions, Thunderbirds and more – thanks to Lew Grade’s ITC.
Showman Lew was all about putting bums on seats. Now the bums come down from Oxbridge to run the show and TV reflects their tastes and prejudices.
When genuine entertainers break through, they seem amazed. I was singing Bradley Walsh’s praises in 1991!
TV needs to stop virtue signalling and box-ticking and concentrate on giving us what we want.
A successor to Fools And Horses would be a great start.