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Reviews
When Demolitions Go Wrong (2019)
Going for the Prize for Repetition
Take a demolition that goes wrong, and show the same short clip over and over and over and over again. Then do the same for another short clip. Then after the commercial break, repeat it all over again.
What do you get - one of the most tedious programmes currently on television.
This programme started from the premise that demolitions that go wrong, to the extent of endangering life, are of interest to the viewing public; then totally squandered the opportunity to educate and explain. CCP
Call the Midwife: Christmas Special (2018)
Sensitive treatment
Another well-written story of the nuns and midwives of Nonnatus House in Poplar. The election of a new Mother Superior for the order means that all the sisters in religion are required to stay at the mother house in Chichester for a while. As in all things they are under obedience, which means that Sister Julienne is elected a Superior she will never return to Poplar and her duties there. It is clear thatcher own personal will would be to return to Poplar but by her profession she has subsumed her will to God and the order.
The working out of this story I shall not relate but in my opinion it is sensitively treated, with understanding of the twin calls on Sister Julienne : her vocation in religion and her medical calling.
Meanwhile back in Poplar Sister Monica Joan takes upon herself to look after the chapel and maintain the horarium, and the work of the midwives continues ....
Father Brown (1954)
A fine interpretation by Guinness
A liberal interpretation of The Blue Cross in Chesterton's canon, which works very well. Beautifully played by Alec Guinness as Father Brown.
In view of comment made of the portrait of King Henry VIII in a stained glass window, it might be added that (1) Henry was not the first English King to oppose the pope - though he took it rather further than his predecessors; (2) for most of his reign King Henry supported the pope and was given the title Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith) as a mark of papal approval. All subsequent monarchs have also used this papal title; (3) Henry did not separate the Church of England from the catholic church. There was no such thing as the Church of England - that is a later construct. What Henry did was to deny the universal jurisdiction of the pope over this realm of England (and in particular the Big Matter of the validity of his marriage to Queen Catherine despite her being his deceased brother's widow and therefore within the prohibited degrees). What he did not do, or allow, was the introduction of protestantism. The church remained catholic. So it is by no means certain that, on taking over a building with that glass panel, the bishop would have felt it necessary to have it removed.
And in light of another comment, I cannot believe that Guinness would not have been aware that "mon père" means "my father". Almost everyone nows that one.
Midsomer Murders: Ring Out Your Dead (2002)
The perils of bell-ringing
A very well-written script. Previous reviewers seem surprised that there is a competitive element to bell-ringing (though often the "competition" is with the past, as witness the plaques on the wall of the ringing chambers), and indeed that not all those who ring are members of the host church congregation.
As a former churchwarden it may be helpful to explain that many pearl of bells are of 8 or 10 bells. There would be very few churches who could muster a sufficiency of ringers from their own congregation, so it is quite normal to offer membership of the tower to bell-ringers from other parishes and to those who are not regular church-goers. There are of course some, such as the Chairman of the Parochial Church Council (not incidentally a deacon), Reggie, who would rather have no bells at all, but they are a in a minority.
The one thing that does not ring true is the idea that the bells could be sold simply by asking the bishop to agree. As a matter of church law, the sale of church bells and almost everything else in a church requires an order, called a faculty, from a church court. These are not lightly granted and in a case such as this the likelihood that the court would allow the sale of the bells is negligible. Reggie would probably have known this, but the others might not.
Many church clocks show the same time constantly. They are complex and expensive. There are very few clock-makers in England who are able to service the turret clocks in all the churches, town halls etc throughout the country, so delay is inevitable. They are also expensive to maintain, and the expense is not likely to sit high on the church's priority list if the roof is leaking. It used to be the custom to set the hands manually to 12 noon if the clock was not working, but that is seldom done these days.
Finally I was advised that if I was going into the church on a weekday to do something in the vestry, or somewhere else out of sight of the door, to lock the door behind me. At one time parish churches were commonly left open all day and all night. It is however a sad fact of our current times that if you do you soon find all the candlesticks missing, so the church insurers insist on keeping the church locked except during the times of services unless there is someone stationed in the church to watch the door.
A very good and accurate episode.
Last of the Summer Wine: Ordeal by Trousers (1992)
Compo playing Bill Owen
A clever script. Do watch through to the end where Compo is on the church hall stage singing not in the style of Compo as one might expect but in the recognisable style of Bill Owen (albeit wearing a woolly hat).