Television
Code comfort
Wendy Cope
First of all, I may as well make use of this opportunity to tell anyone who has my telephone number that it now begins with 071. Until today, like many individuals and businesses in the capital, I have done nothing whatsoever about the change, trusting in the ability of friends and associ- ates to read the little cards provided by British Telecom or, failing that, to listen to a recorded message.
At the weekend, ITV screened several programmes that attempted to generate some of the excitement that has been conspicuously missing from Londoners' attitudes to the alteration. Mildly curious to see how something so uninteresting could be made into a media event, I taped several of these — little programmes enti- tled 071/081 for London and the big one, Live from Telecom Tower, which went out at 11.50 p.m. on Saturday. From one of them I learned that a similar change took place in New York in 1985 and caused a great furore. The old New York code, 212, was retained by subscribers in Manhattan, while everyone else was relegated to the suburban 718. Outraged New Yorkers took to the streets in anti-718 tee-shirts.
`What', asked Michael Aspel, whose unenviable job it was to present these programmes, `do Londoners think about it?' The programme-makers hadn't man- aged to find any Londoners over the age of 11 who thought anything about it at all. A visit to a primary school in Deptford, however, demonstrated the touching capacity of young children to get enthusias- tic about almost anything, if it is presented to them in the right way. As the climax of the coverage approached, Michael Aspel announced that the occasion would be 'a double celebration'. Maureen Lipman opened an envelope and read out the glad tidings: British Telecom have donated a million Pounds to the Rada development fund. Some well-known actors were on hand to express their pleasure and surprise and to reminisce about their days at college. We were treated to a film about Rada, in which Sir Richard Attenborough stood on the college stairs and told us some intriguing facts. `Through those doors down there, the front doors, hundreds and hundreds of aspiring young actors and actresses arrive to begin their training.' Who would have thought it? Sir Richard's reminiscences were just as remarkable, especially his account of meet- ing with George Bernard Shaw. 'It was George Bernard Shaw! I felt as if I'd sort of met Shakespeare or Picasso or Beethoven.'
But what about the historic change in the telephone system? They seemed to have forgotten all about this and we didn't even see anybody flicking a switch. British Telecom got several yards of free publicity and every viewer must have been bored to tears.
Last week also saw the start of two adaptations of the work of talented writers. Up the Garden Path (ITV, 8 p.m., Wednesday) is less enjoyable than Sue Limb's delightful novel. The comedy has become broader and we have to endure the sound of a studio audience. Even so, it's better than the average sitcom.
The first in the Patricia Highsmith series, Mistress of Suspense (ITV, 9 p.m., Wednesday) was based on her story Sauce for the Goose. The television version lasted an hour and was tedious. The original story is a good one and takes ten minutes to read. It is included in a collection called Chillers. Thank you, Penguin Books, for my complimentary copy.
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