Oban season for optimists
TOWN BBC2, 9pm
THERE will come a time when Neil Oliver of Coast, Paul Murton of Grand Tours and Nicholas Crane of Town all end up in the same place at the same time making the same documentary. Imagine the embarrassment.
Crane’s four-part series about so called forgotten towns (forgotten by whom exactly, commissioning editors in London?) starts with Oban.
There is the slightly patronising air of a fop gawping at Scotland about the programme, and, like Gok Wan and some other presenters, Crane has developed the irritating habit of over-emphasising the end of sentENCES. It’s the way a lot of presenters talk NOW. And it’s really quite irritaTING.
However, he has clearly thought deeply about the fate of the town and seems to have a genuine enthusiasm for the quirkier parts of Oban, particularly the extraordinary building that sits above the town – the one that looks like a shrunken, colder version of the Colosseum.
As Crane points out, most people know the building by sight but few people have ever gone up to look at it, and that’s a pity.
Added to the town in 1897, its purpose remains a mystery – some say there were plans for a roof or another level – but its atmosphere is wonderful and relaxing.
The fact that few visitors linger there is part of the problem for Oban, says Crane. Oban is a transit town, a gateway to somewhere else, and his worry is how much this role gets in the way of the ability of the town to look after itself.
He certainly doesn’t avoid the fact that Oban has suffered the same problems as other towns – mainly, the way the internet has killed its high street. There is the usual miss of chain and independent stores, but there are too many for sale and to let signs, and poignant reminders of better times.
Crane’s conclusion is upbeat though: there is evidence of Oban reinventing itself, he says.
You might think this is promising, or you might think Crane is guilty of hopeless optimism and denial.