Now a few grumbles about Edward

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33964, 3 October 1975, Page 4

Now a few grumbles about Edward

If we may say so without bringing down the Monarchy, we are becoming irritated with Edward VII. Not with His Majesty personally, but with the way his series has been laid out. Admittedly his reign was brief, but that is no reason why its treatment in the series should be brief. Having devoted episode after episode to Edward’s childhood and the years in his life when, as A. A. Milne might have put it: The mistresses change at Buckingham Palace Edward VII wound up with Alice — the makers of the programme afford very cursory treatment to the real accomplishments of Edward's reign. The achievement of the Entente Cordiale, for example, was signified by a brief dalliance with an actress, an even briefer afterdinner speech, and two scenes on a railway platform, in one of which the crowd of volatile French

extras cried “Beaucoup rhubarb,” and in the second they shouted “Vive le roi corpulent.” And the much-vaunted political wisdom arising out of continuity which Edward maintained was the Monarchy’s chief gift to the nation, was exemplified by Edward saying to Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman that the nation needed men of good sense and moderation, as though this was some magic political formula which no mere politician, subject to the whims of the electorate. could have thought of for himself. Edward has been badly treated by his scriptwriters and producers during these final episodes, and although we are told that the series was the Queen’s favourite programme, she must be hoping that when ATV comes to do her, some time in the twenty-first century, they do not devote 12 episodes to the years with Crawfie and one to herreign. ❖ ❖ !jC

“The Best of All in the Family” was inevitably enjoyable, given the quality of writing and acting in that programme, but was rather like a meal in. which each course consisted of a very rich dessert. Most of the humour in “All in the Family” arises out of characterisation and context, and to select snippets and string them together as though they were a series of revue sketches does not do the programme or the players justice. Nevertheless we laughed a lot and were reminded afresh how superior “AH in the Family" is to “Till Death Us Do Part,” its British original. Odd things have happened in the world of television comedy in recent years. With the exception 'of “Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?” no British comedy series we have seen this year has been a patch on “All in the Family” or “M.A.S.H.” The fifties and sixties, the golden years of British television comedy, what with Hancock, Steptoe and Son, and Pete and Dud, are now far behind us, and we are left with Sid James and Reg Varney to remind us just ihow far Britain has declined (from her days of greatness. * Sil *

“Kojak” was quite timely this week, with its preoccupation with fences (not the kind that blow over in storms).

As we watched “Kojak” we were also looking forward with anticipation to “Sportsnight” and the rebroadcast of the Big Fight. But as Robert Louis Stevenson, the inventor of the railway locomotive, said, to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and we found the broadcast itself most irritating. First, we had to watch highlights from a game of soccer which did not have any. Then we saw a boileddown version of the Auckland-Marlborough shield game, which ordinarily might have been interesting, but which could surely have been shown after the fight. We began to fear that "Sportsnight” might treat us to an hour’s badminton before showing the boxing. At last the fight, and it I was of course a superb ■ fight, but Television One, to

make up for the fact that they could not show ads between the rounds during the live broadcast, screened 800,000 of them during the rerun. This was very considerate of them, since the 30 or 40 minutes worth of advertisements between each round stopped one from becoming too dangerously excited by the fight.

Indeed, it seems to us that TVI should do the thing properly, rename the programme “Adsnight,” and show 57 minutes worth of advertisements, interspersed with three minutes of sport. That would be much fairer to those of us who really enjoy a nice advertisement but realise that some sport has to be shown in order to pay for them. — A.K.G.