First Brexit, now we’re split over Xmas telly

I thought we would all be united after Boris beat Jezza and promised he was going to get Brexit done.

Those troublesome Remainers had been put in their place and we were all singing from the same hymn sheet.

The only spanners in the works seemed to be the French and a few unruly Scots. But I was wrong. I had completely underestimated the corrosive nature of that other great social divide - Christmas television.

I didn’t think there was any chance of being controversial because this year most of the programmes were repeats anyway.

But I made the mistake of commenting on one of the few new ones and inadvertently split the nation once again. Who would have thought viewers would get so upset about Worzel Gummidge? The original TV version, made by Kentbased TVS, starred former Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee as the scatty scarecrow who talked in riddles and had the unnerving habit of whipping his head off to switch brains. I was not a fan. So I was not expecting much from Maidstoneborn actor Mackenzie Crook, despite coming from The Office, The Detectorists and Pirates of the Caribbean. But I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, he looked a bit like a parsnip and he was a little “preachy” about the environment, but he didn’t swear (which is rare on TV these days) and not once did he take his head off. Result!

When I shared my thoughts on Facebook I was initially greeted with broad agreement. “Brilliant,” they said. Then the posts were ambushed by the pro-Pertwee lobby.

One wrote: “Nothing like the books and preachy like all BBC-generated family and young person viewing now. Just awful.”

Only Brexit, or whether the BBC was right to book Craig David for New Year’s Eve, has split the nation more...