Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
BBC 1
Sky News
BBC News
Britain Goes Camping
BBC 4
So farewell Jonathan Ross – at least from the BBC. I’ve always had a soft spot for Jonathan, the naughty boy at the back of the class; the lad most of the other kids love and the teachers hate. He’s cheeky, gobby, full of himself and always likely to finish up on the wrong end of a Glasgow kiss from one of his classmates. You either love him or hate him.
On his final show, Ross gathered the usual eclectic bunch of guests together: Mickey Rourke, Jackie Chan, David Beckham and Roxy Music. As ever, some were promoting themselves and therein lies my main criticism of the programme. The fault rests not with Ross but with the succession of guests always flogging something – a new book, new movie, new BBC show or whatever.
For that, I blame the BBC and agents who will only contemplate interviews when their stars have something they need to sell. And inevitably, if that is the point of the programme, the guests get a soft ride – although they are also likely to get a few risqué comments coming their way. While some guests complained, it’s no use whingeing when you know what’s written on the tin. But what the hell, some stars need to be brought down to earth and it was always a good laugh. Yes, plenty of piss-taking, but rarely vindictive. Take the devil out of Ross and it can be like water without the whisky. Ross will be missed. He was inventive, amusing and anarchic, but always worth the risk.
The BBC was well out of order when it executives pathetically kow-towed to the Daily Mail and its fan club and decided to give Ross six of the best after his “incident” with the highly unmasking Russell Brand. Yes, Ross was a bit stupid, but that’s part of his charm. Shamefully, Labour gave him no support at all and simply watched on as the BBC caved in to the media frenzy.
There’s nothing journalists like better than breaking news. By chance, I happened on Sky News the other weekend to find rolling coverage of Raoul Moat under siege from the police. It was the same on BBC News. There was nothing to show – pictures were meaningless, information was limited and commentators whispered over shots of police cars with flashing blue lights or just peered over red-and-white cordoned off areas. It went on much the same for hour after hour. By the next day, with Moat having shot himself, he had almost become Billy the Kid, the killer outlaw hero. By the end of the day, flowers were being laid on his grave and Facebook was about to become the centre of a media storm. Not that you could wholly blame television for that.
Although TV news generally has the good sense to sit back and reflect rather than dive in at the deep end, breaking stories such as this can have an inescapable momentum of their own. It gets the journalists hooked, the technology is fully exercised and the adrenaline flows. It’s what many journalists thrive on.
However, a number of cautions need to be sounded. First, that the story really warrants this kind of intensive scrutiny. Second, that information is accurate and not just hearsay. And finally, that it does not bounce the story out of proportion. In this instance, the TV channels, with little else happening elsewhere, plunged all their resources, efforts and time into coverage. And that was their first mistake. It may have been a quiet news evening and the Raoul Moat story may have been prominent, but did it really warrant such in-depth coverage? A little less hysteria on their part might have been better.
It’s holiday time and BBC 4 suitably celebrated the arrival of July sunshine with a documentary, Britain Goes Camping. This pursuit has long been a part of working-class and socialist culture. Freedom and clean air were the perfect antidote to the grime, smog and toil of the industrial city. Coupled with that traditional Methodist belief in muscular Christianity, workers made off on their
bikes for the countryside. It was also cheap – a vital calculation for the Edwardian working classes. Sadly, this programme made little mention of socialism, the Woodcraft Folk or even the Scouts in what was a fairly lightweight skirt around the outdoor life.
Today those same values continue, although it has now become a far more sophisticated activity. Lightweight tents, insulated sleeping bags, expensive clothing and so forth have turned camping into a billion-pound industry. And, of course, the restrictions of the bike have given way to the car and trailer.
It’s still as popular as ever, especially in times of economic gloom although many campers now forsake these shores for Europe’s sun, doubtless clutching their copies of Tribune, whistling the Red Flag, and clinking their glasses, as they pitch their tent. It sounds like a good idea.
