Saint George is a big hit
IT’S ST GEORGE’S DAY AT THE BBC! I appreciate it’s St George’s Day in lots of other places as well, but what I mean is there’s an actual programme with that title (apart from the “It’s” and the exclamation mark, those are my own) going out on BBC4 tonight at 10pm.
I must admit that I’m slightly surprised.
I didn’t think the feast day of England’s patron saint was an occasion the BBC was all that keen to celebrate these days, now that it’s considered rather too closely associated with political undesirables of a numbskullypersuasion. (Now that St George’s Day is, I mean, not the BBC, heaven forbid...)
But then last month it put together similar programmes to mark the feast days of Saint David and Saint Patrick, so I guess it’s somewhat made a rod for its own back.
I’m assuming Saint Andrew will get his own show as well, come November.
And besides, these programmes are only music compilations, celebrating performers with close ties to their respective nations, so I guess the makers are on fairly safe ground.
The Irish one, for example, included U2,Van Morrison andThe Pogues, while the Welsh featured the likes of Sir Tom Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey and Baroness Bonnie Tyler.
Lining up tonight for England is a particularly broad range of acts, including Sir Elton John, Maddy Prior and Joe Strummer.
By far the oddest, though, is the pairing of the Spice Girls with Echo And The Bunnymen.
This song of theirs, On Top Of The World, was recorded for the England football team ahead of the 1998World Cup in France – and, as the official anthem, displayed a level of optimism that any England fan older than about 12 could have told them was the kiss of death.
“Looking like it’s going to happen,” they sang. “Knowing that the time is right /With pride on our side and the passion /We’ve got the glory in our sight...”
I believe there was even an extended version, where Posh Spice sang: “And don’t worry, folks, my husband definitely won’t get himself sent off for kicking out at Diego Simeone in the 47th minute against Argentina.”
Elsewhere tonight, the penultimate part of CHURCHILL (C5, 9pm) brings us up to 1945.
The war will soon be over, the Nazis will have been crushed, Hitler will be dead – and Winston will call a general election, confident that a grateful nation will sweep him comfortably back to power.
“Looking like it’s going to happen,” he sang. “Knowing that the time is right /With pride on our side and the passion /We’ve got the glory in our sight...”