Television
Not a bad old cove
Wendy Cope
Nursery rhymes are useful for every- body all through their lives,' said Iona Opie on last week's edition of The Child's Eye (Channel 4, 8 p.m., Tuesday). 'They give you a nice feeling about life — how ridiculous it is.' That seems a good thought for the week when Billy Graham is here, offering to tell us how life makes sense. I am not one of Dr Graham's admirers, having been persuaded by his preaching to `go forward' at the age of nine. The gesture was prompted by the fear of hell and nothing else. It was an unhappy experience and it helped ensure that I would have no time for religion when I grew up.
Despite his failure to have the desired effect on me, Billy Graham is still regarded as a great man by several members of my family. The Channel 4 programme about the evangelist, A Prophet with Honour, was the highlight of their Sunday afternoon and, as I happened to be visiting, I had to watch it too. It left me with the impression that the monster isn't such a bad old cove after all. Much was made of his support for desegregation, while less glorious episodes — such as his association with President Nixon — were presented as the result of naivete. Interviewed by David Frost, Dr Graham told of his astonishment when he heard the language on the Watergate tapes. The President had never used those words in his hearing. Someone wrote to Billy Graham and said that Nixon didn't sound like himself on the tapes. It was as if somebody else had taken over. Could it have been the Devil? Dr Graham wasn't sure but he thought that could be right.
President Kennedy, too, had evidently made a good impression, playing golf with the man of God and attending breakfast- time Bible study meetings. What does Dr Graham think of Kennedy, now he knows what else the President was getting up to? Unfortunately David Frost didn't ask.
Towards the end of the interview the
evangelist spoke of his feelings about death. He's looking forward to it very much. It will be a great day. Perhaps Jesus will send him to another planet, to preach to the people there. He hopes so. I was surprised to find myself feeling quite be- nign as I listened to all this. The man has tremendous charm. Perhaps, I reflected, we should be grateful to the people who put us off religion. On Sunday night I dreamed that Billy Graham was preaching with a bottle of beer in his hand and that he fell off the platform.
This week's Second Sight (BBC 2, 9.45 p.m., Sunday) included extracts from a 1966 documentary about a 27-year-old Dublin fashion designer called Clodagh. It was, among other things, a portrait of a successful marriage. Clodagh's career didn't cause any problems, said her hus- band. 'She runs the house extremely well.' When he got home in the evening, he poured himself a drink and asked her what was for dinner. 'Cherries flambd,' she replied lovingly.
`I asked for a divorce that year,' Clodagh revealed in the follow-up, filmed 22 years later. Her second marriage looked happy enough but you couldn't help wondering what might come out if they go back and talk to her in 2010. A programme that encourages us to be sceptical about what we see on television must be a good thing.
After the War (ITV, 9 p.m., Friday) continues to look like a very good thing, as enjoyable as Frederic Raphael's earlier serial The Glittering Prizes. Of course, a lot of people sneered at that and perhaps they'll sneer at this too. Others will be grateful for some intelligent drama about educated people. There's little enough of that on television.
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