As the headlines have lately been grabbed by such end-of-an-era events as the passing of Butler from On The Buses and the death of Nora Batty, I think it’s time to spend a little while reflecting on a certain type of British television. Not on the noble tradition of the Play For Today or the philosophical insights of Bryan Magee, the work of David Attenborough, or even the high-trash children’s programming of Robin Of Sherwood.

No, I’m talking about the tradition of slightly-to-incredibly naff TV which nonetheless holds a nostalgic pride of place in the heart of every red-blooded British citizen of a certain vintage. Subjects worthy of consideration may include:

Patrick Moore
The World Snooker Championship
Fifteen to One
British Professional Wrestling
The Family Ness
Taggart
Glen Michael
Televised Darts
Bob Holness

You may think that a celebration of such dubious “classics” would take the form of ironic snickering at the past. You may very well think that. But in attempting to answer such questions as “How did Patrick Moore become a professional broadcaster?” and “How did Jocky Wilson and Shirley Crabtree become sporting icons?” I feel that we come naturally to a celebration of the great British tradition of the gentleman amateur, and so to an appreciation of all that is to be cherished in the British character.

The truth is that these are people who, finding themselves in the spotlight glare of the prime time television audience, so braced themselves to their duties, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest twenty-eight minutes.”

autoposted from stuartwest.com