Television
Ageless Juvenile
By PETER FORSTER Quite why Granada, With its bias of evangelism leavened with sophistication, should have chosen to disinter this ageless juvenile is rather a puzzle. An obvious answer is that, as with the Knight Errant series, it might be regarded as an attempt to get away from the debased, degrading formula of the gunslinger protagonist who is better than his enemies only in that he wins the final battle. As such the aim is praiseworthy, but unfortu- nately Biggles proves a dull and dated dog, and the effect is like looking through back numbers of the Boy's Own Paper, remembered with affec- tion, but a disappointment to meet again twenty years on.
Another reflection could be that there is getting to be something rather old-fashioned about Granada. Having made most of what running there was in the early days of ITV, one gets a certain sense of spent impetus in the comedy thrillers, the strident, March of Time technique of Searchlight, the Granadiers, the eked-out reliance on the formula successes of Spot the Tune and The Army Game. The big Royal Ballet project the other week was tremendously well worth doing, but was hardly the sort of thing to set the world on fire today. Perhaps Granada at present is just a step behind the times. like the Labour Party. Whereas the BBC has been going through one of its periodic spurts to catch up with public taste, like the Conservative Party. Fifteen years ago, Granada would have been foremost in trying to educate the troops (that was why it came into its own at the Election), but the well-fed citizen of the HP State veers between the opposed poles of BBC and A-R or ATV.
(Continued on page 700) On the other hand, it is fair to add that in the ITV world where unreason rules, enterprise sometimes boomerangs. Mr. Bernstein proposed to add to Granada's recent programme on VD a notice inviting viewers to let the company know whether they thought the programme should have been shown earlier in the evening, and to younger people—which seems to me about as brilliant a piece of showmanship as I have heard of since Barnum sent customers to see the Egress. The suggestion was vetoed by the Inde- pendent Television Authority.
Still on the unsung, I have been meaning for some time to mention that whenever I catch the perennial Emergency Ward 10 (Tessa Diamond is forever) it seems to me extremely well sustained, and pleasantly warm and sane in its treatment of dilemmas easy to exploit over- glibly. And the same can be said, after its tricky start, of Probation Officer.
This vein of didactic drama has been well developed by television. A recent episode dealt in an admirable, even startling and quite un- sniggering, frank way with the problem of sexual incompatibility in a marriage. This week conveyed more information-with-drama (a West Indian on probation can go home, if he wishes), while the main plot focused on an underworld feud with both sides united against the police. This rang particularly true, coming as it did hard on reports of the Pen Club trial. Extremely well directed and acted though they are, I still wonder why in such plays the criminals almost always seem to be cockneys?
Footnote: I hold to the view I have often expressed that BBC TV's news sense is less alert and lively than ITN, but must apologetically cor- rect my recent comment that they did not report Nehru's refusal to shake hands with Cho.a; apparently they did. I must have been Won" cloth ears. I now wear sackcloth ears.
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