Television
Private Joking
By GUY GISBOURNE Tempo, ITV's new fortnightly programme presenting 'the Best of the Lively Arts' and edited by Kenneth Tynan, got off to a spavined start last Sunday afternoon. The notion of Sir Laurence Olivier being inter- viewed by Lord Harewood about the Chichester Festival, of which he is to be the first director, looked promising, and there were some nice shots of Sir Laurence warm• ing his hands over the model of the theatre and shinning up a ladder to watch the building grow• ing under his eagle eyes. But it was far too long; and watching Lord Harewood visibly writhing at the absurdity of having to spin the thing out to such unnatural lengths, so help me I found myself wishing for the rhinoceros imperturbability and long questing nose of Huw Wheldon himself. Long before the end my suspension of disbelief snapped with a twang when Sir Laurence huskily told us how moved he was that 'the people of Chichester' had wanted this festival. It brought into my mind a memorable line in a chronicle play I once saw about St. Richard of Chichester, written by some peer of the realm whose name escapes me : 'We arc the Sussex seamen, why should we listen to him?'
The best item, a quick tour of political cartoons down the ages, with an excellent script by Jonathan Miller, was on the other hand too short and left one frustrated. The camera, in a hurry, was continually whisking off one cartoon and on to another before you had time to grasp what it was about. Even more frustrating was the frag. ment of a discussion on the artist and politics between four writers and actors. This was just getting going, and Lindsay Anderson was on the point of losing his temper with the egregious Mr. Auberon Waugh, when we were moved on to the next item. The final effect was of having been vouchsafed a brief peep at the way those funny .artists do carry on.
Lastly there was the cast of Beyond the Fringe, on absolutely rock-bottom form. From such men there could not help being a few flashes ('What first attracted you to Dvorak?' His physique'); but for the most part the wit was limp and the promised satire only parody of nothing in par- ticular. Even if the parody had been good of its kind it would have been wrong. It is not difficult to knock the technical miscalculations of this first instalment of Tempo, but that is not the point. What must be reconsidered is the conception of the programme, the present level of sophistication —which for all the spurious bonhomie of the background jazz is far higher than that of Monitor. Mr. Tynan proclaims that art is not for the minority. I fervently share his opinion. He also states that Tempo is 'against the culture snobs you may associate with the arts.' But unless he can rid the programme of this atmosphere of 'private joking in a panelled room,' culture snobs is exactly what most ITV viewers are going to associate it with--that is, if they keep it on long enough to associate it with anything.
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