Television
Contentious
Richard Ingrams
1 am expecting any day now to receive the accolade of 'Defender of the Faith' from the Vatican, not that I really deserve it. It just seems to mc that someone has to try to counter the astonishing attacks on Chris" tianity which are made at regular intervals by the BBC. Only three weeks ago 1 cornplained about the suggestion in Ronald Eyre's 'Long Search' that the slaughter of six million Jews was the work of Christians, pointing out that this did not constitute an accurate description of Hitler and Eichmann. Last week the suggestion was repeated on BBC 2 by a so-called 'expert' Dr Haim Cohn in a programme called 'The Trial and Death of Jesus' described as `a documentary investigation'. Everything was done by the director, Robert Vas, to suggest a calm objective history lesson. Dr Cohn was represented by that excellent actor and contributor to the Goldenballs Fund, Clive Swift, speaking quietly and reasonably. But, as usual when we are offered 'history', the material was highlY contentious and speculative. Dr Cohn's airy in fact is to put the blame for the death Of Jesus entirely on the Romans and to absolve all Jews from any responsibility. The Gospels, he stated, were written at a time when the Christians were trying to suck up to the Romans and for that reason the Jews were made the 'buddies' in the story. Needless to say no evidence whatever was produced in support of this theory. It might conceivably be true but the producer forfeited any claim to be taken seriously bY his concluding shots of Yad Vashem the memorial to the Nazi victims in Jerusalem by suggesting in other words that the lies and distortions of the evangelists led t° Hitler's final solution. I repeat: Hitler persecuted the Jews not because theY weren't Christians but because they weren't Germans. It was their race, not their rag" ion that offended him. We are not all guiltY. Watching television drama I often catch myself wondering how on earth a particular play gets on the air. What, for cxaMPle; about 'Blue Skies From Now On', by Eterr Bainbridge shown by ATV on SundaY• Afterwards I tried to imagine some bright young spark in the Drama Department SO' ling it to his superiors: 'Well you see itS about these ghastly people who go on hal!' day to an old army camp. . . yes I know !t sounds a bit strange . . anyway, there 5 Lionel who's some kind of fascist and w11°, hates his wife, and she hates him too am' then there's Bernard a wonderful part f°I. Dinsdalc Landen he's a university lecturer, who's a frightful shit with a little son call° Jason and a girlfriend he hates and she hates him too and they shout at each other a lot and then there's big curly-haired young Chap called Kidney . . yes I know it is a funny name . . . who's brain-damaged but Bernard's trying to cure him by making him do press-ups. Oh yes and there's a social worker with a terrible stutter drifting in and out and cutting up logs. No, nothing much happens except that they all get on each Other's nerves and at the end the little boy dies because he's swallowed all Kidney's Pills.'
'Great!'
'Super!'
didn't get where I am today without realising that this is just the sort of thing for Sunday night. Puts you in the mood for Monday morning. We'll buy it.'
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