Problems of empire better understood

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33527, 7 May 1974, Page 4

Problems of empire better understood

The sun finally set on It “The British Empire” on Sunday night and ( I during its 13 weeks this ii {series was at pains to-i present a fair and ob-\ jjective study of the,, empire. It must have been a challenging documentary to make' >and as interpretations of| (historical events can varyj I considerably the dangers; would have been many fold. I Ilf anything, there was pos-| ,sibly a tendency to suggest; 'that Britain, as a colonialj power, was not all it might I have been. For straight entertainment I value, the episodes varied,. (with the better ones being

CHTV3 2.00 p.m.: News and Weather (C). 2.05: This Afternoon. 2.37: Kate (Phyllis Calvert). Drama (C). 3.30: Country Calendar (repeat) (C). 3.45: Room 222 (Lloyd Haynes) (C). 4.10: My Three Sons (Fred Mac Murray). Comedy (C). 4.34: Max the 2000-Year-Old Mouse (C). 4.42: Play School. 5.07: Hammy Hamster’s Adventures on the Riverbank (C). < 5.20: Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space (C). 5.43: News. 5.47: Primus. Adventure (C). 6.14: Rollin’ with Kenny Rogers and The First Edition (C). 6.42: You And Your Child—Development of Language. 7.00: Network News. 7.22: Weather and The South Tonight. 7.47: Coronation Street. 8.17: M.A.S.H. Comedy (C). 8.47: Newsbrief (C). 8.49: Nationwide. 9.13: The Guardians, part 10. Drama (C). 10.13: Late News and Weather (C).

NATIONAL PROGRAMME I [lncluding 3YA Christchurch 1 (690 kilohertz); 2YA Welling- t ton (570 kilohertz); 4YA Dunedin (750 kilohertz); and 3YZ Greymouth <950 kilohertz).] 7 p.m.: N.Z.B.C. Sports , News. 7.30: On Stage New I Zealand. 8.40: Checkpoint. ' 9.0: Just a Minute. 9.30: The John Boulter Show. 10.0: Jazz Tonight. 10.45: The (Worst Journey in the World 1(12). 11.15: All night proI gramme. 3YC, CHRISTCHURCH (960 kilohertz) I 7 p.m.: Baroque Brass. I Albert MacKinnon, Michael ■Gibbs (trumpets), Peterl Averi (organ), Christopher I Salmon (cello). Pezelt 'Sonatas Nos 63 and 67. | I (N.Z.8.C.). 7.9: Beverley Bergen (soprano), Maurice Till | (piano). 7.37: Sarasate: Span-| ish Dances Nos 7 and B,| Ruggiero Ricci (violin), i Brooks Smith (piano). 7.45: Letter from America by I Alistair Cooke. 8.0: Danish; Contemporary Music Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: Per Norgard. 8.29: Combined Oxiford College Choirs. 8.58: (Shostakovich: Symphony No. 16 in B minor. 9.30: Rupert

those which could call on film| footage of actual events. The final episode, which! dealt largely with the arrival i at independence of countries ; in east and west Africa, was (well served in this regard. It (was, however, very much a surface study and care may ihave been taken to not run ! the risk of offending still ■living persons. I By and large, the series (was a first-class history I lesson and the narration of i Robert Hardy left little to be desired. The shots at the end of Northern Ireland in turi moil showed that although I Britain no longer hai, an (empire it has still not rid I itself of the problems of ( ruling across the seas. , |As Hardy concluded, it will ;'be for history to sit in final

Brooke As I Remember Him: The actress Cathleen Nesbitt talks to Michael Elliott. 9.57: Scriabin: Eight Studies Op. 42. John Ogden (piano). 10.10: Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A flat, London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir George Solti. 3ZB, CHRISTCHURCH (1100 kilohertz) > 7.30 p.m.: John Reid. 8.2: I Motoring with Robbie. 10.3: . The Story of Pop. 3ZM, CHRISTCHURCH (1400 kilohertz) 6 p.m.: Chris Muirhead, Neil Ronald.

judgment on Britain as the ruler of a mighty empire. With only three of its nine episodes remaining, “The Lotus Eeaters” is going to have to pull something spectacular out of the bag in the next few weeks if it is not to be stamped a big disappointment.

It began with promises of all sorts of high adventure, yet all it has supplied is a succession of sub-standard insights into the lives of strange and, in the main, not very interesting people. This time it was the turn of painter (among other, less noble, pursuits), Nestor Turton, to have the spotlight. His situation was an unashamed steal of the real-life escape from responsibility of the French painter, Gauguin.

Maurice Denham is too good an actor not to command some attention, but in spite of his external dexterity he somehow failed to make Turton a character of any real substance. There were a few more of those now totally unnecessary flashbacks and if the series, as a whole, inched forward at all from the previous week it was in the hint that soon we may get more of the proprietors of Shepherd’s Bar, lan Hendry and Wanda Ventham, and less of their customers. That ridiculous trio of comedians, “The Goodies” were good for a few laughs early in the evening. The speeded-up film sequences provided some of the best moments and the special effects people must have had the time of their lives in turning a kitten into a “King Cat” of Gulliverean proportions.

The English F.A. Cup final would have had a large audience and in addition to being a splendid spectacle, especially for those with colour receivers, it provided yet another example of the high standard of British sports commentators.

The commentator was fluent, informative, never over-excited and precise in his observations. Perhaps, the N.Z.B.C. could get the tape for use in its training section. —K.J.M.