Connecting with Culture - more by Nigel Hopper

Spooks

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:03:36 +0000

Spooks is back – and with a bang. The BBC’s slick and stylish spy series returned this week, only for one of its main characters to be blown out of the show by a car bomb. It’s never been quite as good since the utterly mesmerising Tom Quinn took early retirement from MI5, but this week’s episodes have proved that Spooks remains compelling viewing.

The success of Spooks can be attributed to a number of factors – the writing, acting, camera work, film editing and suspense-inducing soundtrack, to name but a few. Each of these we can rightly celebrate as examples of excellence in their field. Spooks, however, is greater than the sum of its parts, and as such has established itself as the most patriotic show on television. Arguably this, more than anything else, is the secret of its success.

Collectors Cornered?

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:07:28 +0100

Darren Smith has, apparently, the largest private collection of Lego in Britain. That’s more than two million bricks, in case you were wondering. Accommodating the collection has necessitated the conversion of both his loft and his garage. ‘I love Lego’, he explains, ‘the colours and the shapes are timeless.’ His wife, however, regards her husband as ‘obsessed’, commenting ‘the house is overrun. Sometimes he spends large amounts of money on Lego when really he should be treating me.’ For the record, Darren’s collection is worth £50,000 – a more expensive hobby than some, certainly, but considerably cheaper than others.

The Secret Millionaire

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:39:46 +0100

Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire is TV that can legitimately claim to change lives. Each programme follows a millionaire as they go ‘undercover’ for two weeks, to experience life on benefit in a deprived area. During their fortnight, the millionaire seeks out volunteer opportunities with local community projects, with a view to identifying worthy causes to which they can donate cash. Each programme concludes with the millionaire returning to selected projects to express thanks and admiration, and then to reveal their true identity and hand over a cheque, often for several thousand pounds.

Dad’s Army

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:07:51 +0100

This week marks the 40th anniversary of Dad’s Army. It is testimony to the enduring appeal of the show that BBC2 has given over its entire evening schedule this Saturday to Dad’s Army-related programming, and that BBC1 will broadcast a special celebration on Sunday evening. And it’s not just those who saw it first time round who are fans – my 9-year-old son has been beside himself with laughter whenever he’s caught one of the recent run of repeats.

Driven to Distraction?

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:22:42 +0100

Teresa Clarke finally passed her driving test this week – after 27 years. It was the thirteenth test she had taken, after a total of 450 hours of tuition, at a cost of £15,000. Naturally, she was delighted; or, as her relieved driving instructor put it, ‘she went absolutely bananas.’ Well, wouldn’t you, after 27 years?

Truth is that many of us would have given up long before. However, despite all the setbacks she encountered, Mrs Clarke insists that she, ‘never wanted to give up learning to drive.’ The primary reason why her success is newsworthy is because such perseverance is a rare thing in our ‘instant society’.

Courage and Conviction

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:08:21 +0100

The reason we talk about having the ‘courage of our convictions’ is because there are consequences that flow from those convictions – and not all of them happy ones.

This week, in an interview with The Times, George Bush reflected on his presidency and expressed regret that the rhetoric he used in regard to the Iraq war has created a legacy for him as ‘a guy really anxious for war.’ Had he known back then what he knows now, about the consequences of his language, he would have taken a different tone.

Disaster Relief

Fri, 16 May 2008 13:45:08 +0100

“This report contains images that some viewers may find distressing.”

This is a line that our television newscasters have to deliver with alarming regularity. Barely are we coming to terms with pictures of lifeless bodies floating in filthy water in Burma when we are confronted with pictures from China, of bodies buried under tonnes of rubble after the earthquake. Both sets of pictures tell the story of thousands of lives lost and of human misery in epic proportions.

Three and Out

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:46:18 +0100

“Is there any comedy in dying under a train?”

That was the somewhat disarming question put to the actor, Mackenzie Crook, when he arrived for the premiere of his new film, Three and Out on Monday evening. It was asked by one of a number of Tube train drivers, picketing the premiere in protest at what they regard as the film’s insensitive handling of suicide on the London Underground.

Quite apart from this particular film, the picketing driver’s question raises the broader issue of whether everything is fair game for comedic interpretation, or whether there are certain things that should remain off-limits.

Discipleship - and the Bill

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:02:52 +0000

‘Those MPs who have approached me’, the Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff told Radio 4 recently, ‘have said: “I don’t think this is right. I accept the teachings of the church, yet I’m a government minister, or I’m a Labour MP. Can I discuss with you the moral dilemma I have?”’

rowan in the wrong direction?

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:58:54 +0000

‘People may be surprised but I hope that that surprise will be modified when they think about the general question of how the law and religious community – religious principle – are best and most fruitfully accommodated.’

taking stock

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:13:11 +0000

The misery inflicted by this week’s floods and heavy snowfalls is not hard to imagine. No sooner has the rain or snow fallen than our television screens and newspapers are full of pictures of the chaos. In the same way, after a stockmarket crash such as last Monday’s the media regale us with images of remarkably dressed but clearly depressed brokers. Nonetheless, most of us outside the City find it rather easier to sympathise with country dwellers knee-deep in floodwater than with young stockbrokers holding their heads in their hands.

healthy living

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:58:22 +0000

It must have come as an encouragement to many, already struggling under the burden of New Year’s Resolutions to adopt a healthier lifestyle, to learn that perseverance in such matters can add up to 14 years to our lives. Research conducted among 20,000 people over the course of 10 years by Cambridge University and the Medical Research Council found that those who took regular exercise, ate five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, drank alcohol only in moderation and abstained from smoking were four times more likely to live out the decade than those who didn’t.

liverpool nativity

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:06:59 +0000

At a time when the traditional nativity play is reported to be under threat of extinction in our schools, there is something deliciously subversive about the city of Liverpool choosing to inaugurate its year as the European Capital of Culture with its own, unique take on the story of Jesus’ birth.

we was robbed!

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:42:52 +0000

It has been a bad week for any football-loving family. First, they’re hit with the news that HM Revenue & Customs has lost two CDs containing personal data such as their names, dates of birth and bank account details, along with those of the other 25 million British citizens who receive Child Benefit. Then, they have to watch in horror and disbelief as England are beaten 3-2 by Croatia and thus fail to qualify for Euro 2008.

strictly come dancing

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:19:48 +0000

‘It’s nice to see you, to see you nice!’ Thus Bruce Forsyth welcomes my family and me, and millions of others each week, to the Saturday evening televisual feast that is Strictly Come Dancing. Who could have predicted, after the demise of Come Dancing in 1998, that SCD – now in its fifth series – would prove such a triumph?