Television Symposia Richard Ingrams
Eversince I started watching television way hack in the mists of time grey-haired men in suits have been coming on to discuss the state of the British economy — spokesmen from the Labour and Conservative parties, the TUC, the CBI, an economist or two —all ated round David Dimbleby or Robin 'ay, earnestly putting their heads together to try to determine what is wrong. Granada television which likes to think of itself as the most 'committed' of the independent comPnnies has always had a weakness for such sYraposia, and now, at a time when the contr. acts are once again coming up for renewal, it is not to be wondered at that they should try to demonstrate their bona fides by cornPhleting a series of six programmes, each an p'cuir long, The Nuts and Bolts of the .Lconoiny shown at noon on Sundaymorn-. 'Hg when no one is watching. The last of the series began ominously enough with shots of the grey-haired men in Suits arriving by helicopter and car at an linPressive country house, Mottram Hall, Cheshire. The proceedings opened with a sPeech from the token American bore, a mall called Lawrence Krause, representing the I3rookings Institution, a Think Tank of stnne kind. No seminar of this type is complete without such a man who, with an air of 9niet avuncular concern, deplores the British decline and proposes appropriate renledies. There follows a traditional round 1213 Of views. Hugh Scanlon attacks the ln_ulti-national companies, the chairman of ynilever says he can see an 'ongoing Investment scene developing,' Lord KeartOn nods thoughtfully and Lord Armstrong, nnee the great white hope of the Colour '1IPplements, looks very puffy and says not , aword during the course of the hour-long discussion. One is left with the abiding conviction that the failings of the British °norny are due entirely to such men and 'gat seminars like Granada's only make [natters worse.
Whatever this programme was about it was certainly not nuts and bolts. Indeed the !depressing aspect of these efforts is the feel
You get of a yawning gap between the 'ugh-flown seminar discussion and the sordid reality which we see about us in the streets. It was exactly the same impression I got from watching The Editors who were debating the Government's proposal for a fourth television channel. Here were more 'nen in suits, including Brian Young, chair'Ilan of the IBA and John Freeman, chair!Ilan of London Weekend Television. I had te keep reminding myself that these charming intelligent men were responsible for the Mindless drivel that is produced by com-. tnercial television. There was no sign of any connection between the two, nor any apparent awareness on the part of the men in suits of the discrepancy. Brian Young talks about 'providing a public service' to describe putting out Crossroads and Celebrity Squares while the BBC spokesman, another man with grey hair and glasses looking like a hospital consultant said that 'Broadcasting is a matter of climate'. Everyone took it for granted that a fourth channel was an excellent idea but there was little indication from the chief media pundit, Tony Smith, about what would be put on it apart from some waffle about 'minority interests'. If things aren't working properly it is of course tempting to start afresh with a different set-up. But this lets the Scotts and the Freemans off the hook. They can get on with churning out the tat while these new chappies try to come up with something different. If the Government is going to do anything, it should begin by forcing the BBC to make improvements in exchange for continually increasing its licence fee and cracking down on the ITV monopolists like Lord Grade.
Henry Moore was given predictable eightieth birthday salutations on both channels. On Yorkshire television there was a lot of talk about majesty, depth and grandeur but Moore always strikes me as a rather pedestrian man. Sprightly and fit, he talks of carrying on for several more years, prompting a nightmare vision of a landscape in which every available nook is filled with one of his great big slabs.
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