THE BOX IS BETTER AFTER A BREAK

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34044, 7 January 1976, Page 4

THE BOX IS BETTER AFTER A BREAK

t By

KEN COATES)

Isn't it marvellous what a complete break from television can do? Its absence comes as a positive relief, and you even catch yourself sneering at those hardy addicts who cart along’ their sets on holiday in (smart caravans. Best of all. however, is a return home which coincides; with programmes whichare old favourites. Put it down to the eu-l phoria of first-night watch- ■ ing after holidays, if you like, but the content of! TVl’s Monday night offering; was viewed with relish. Visitors even dropped in, l bringing with them welcome; refreshments, to take in the; last episode of “Colditz.” In spite of early lapses! , and flaws in re-creating the vigilance of the captors, this was a remarkable series. For 28 weeks it commanded a wide following, sustaining the illusion of men surviving and resisting while incarcerated in the impreg- i ! nable German fortress; prison. One factor in the success] of the programme was the l way in which the various, characters were projected, so that viewers came to! know how the prisoners felt,; and in a measure, to share their hopes and sufferings. Bernard Hepton played the; role of the Kommandant of! 1 Colditz with distinction. It! was largely his performance that underlined the clear distinction between the atti-j tudes of the despised S.S. and the traditional professionalism of the German Army. A deft touch in the “Liberation” episode came after the Kommandant had delivered his rather stiff farewell Ito Colonel Preston. He was brushed aside by a jubilant

prisoner carrying out a large photograph of Hitler — the Kommandant’s world had crumbled and he was already being buffeted, bemused by a complete salThe last episode managed to convey the almost over-j whelming relief and joy ofj men freed after years of im-| prisonment. But. one incident, the entry of the lone American soldier through the main gate, while credible enough. seemed! overdrawn. The intention of the long] pause was, no doubt, to; make the point that after! years of a harsh and oppres-i sive regime such an incident! was so unbelievable as to] produce a stunned reaction.; But the point was rather! laboured. As the TVi continuity an-; nouncer remarked after the; conclusion of the series, “Colditz” will be a hard act to follow. The replacement, “Warship,” with the British Navy as its setting and props, rakes the slot next Monday. “Monty Python” is back] ■ with its particular brand of! humour that somehow seems' ]to inject some sanity into | the crazj world of tele--1 vision 1 read somewhere that

this is the third series and The makers felt that the fun ; was going out of making it. No doubt the demands of producing this kind of show i are great, but it still has im- . pact and the most goonish !of twists. Jonathan Dimbleby, who

first brought the horrors of Ethiopia’s famine to a world-wide audience, was back in a “This Week” documentary which took a look at conditions in this country under the revolution. It was a perceptive and, , well-explained survey that; (gave some insight into the, (enormous appeal socialism: has for a people oppressed i for generations. Even “The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes” from TVlheld together as a reason-: ably entertaining yarn — al-; ’though it became abundantly clear early on what the ad-i I mirable Mr Hewitt sus-j pected. Television Two did get a J look in with “Softly Softly ! ■’Task Force.” in which De-; ’’tective Sergeant Evans,! played by David Lloyd Me-; redith. was the leading light. It was not one of the task ’ force's most distinguished cases and somehow Chief In--1 spector Adler does not fit the superintendent’s role. Initiatives were taken by Evans and at times Adler iwas reduced to a blithering ’ buffoon. The series is cer,’tainly not the same without ! the bluff, bullving Barlow.