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| UPDATED
EVERY FRIDAY
Last Update:
Friday 27th May, 2005 |
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| All
content © New Journal Enterprises, 2005. |
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| One
Week with John Gulliver |
| A reality check for television audiences
|
HIGH powered television producer
Lord Alli and John Reid – the former manager of Elton
John – lamented the stranglehold of so-called reality
TV show Big Brother when I met them in Islington yesterday
(Wednesday.)
They were celebrating the coming 50th anniversary of the National
Youth Theatre in Holloway Road, whose famous old students
have included Michael York, Helen Mirren, Matt Lucas and soon
to star in ITV’s popular ‘Cutting It’ hair
saloon saga, Katy Carmichael.
The event also included my colleague and former NYT council
member Illtyd Harrington – the former leader of the
old GLC – and NYT artistic director Paul Roseby.
Mr Harrington was concerned that with all the reality TV shows
around there would be less work for trained actors like those
at the NYT.
But Labour’s Lord Alli, owner of an independent TV company
with Rupert Murdoch’s daughter Elizabeth, thought the
reality bubble was about to burst.
“Things go in and out of fashion,” said Lord Alli
who is the new chairman of the NYT.
“I think what people want is distinctive, high quality
television. Everyone loved reality TV at first, and then there
was a whole range of copycats, now people want something different.
“But TV is a huge media with hundreds of channels. There’s
a place for reality TV as there is for good drama.”
John Reid, a former chairman of the NYT, who has been fronting
an audition style show for would be stars, The X-Factor In
Australia, said: “I think there’s definitely too
much reality TV.
“I think the pendulum will swing back to good TV soon.
The problem with reality is that it’s cheap. I’ve
been out of the UK for eight months but I saw Celebrity Love
Island recently. It was like watching paint dry.”
Left off the list by John
I AM no longer miffed when government ministers roll up for
a photo opportunity in Camden without informing the New Journal.
So I just shrugged when I heard yesterday (Wednesday) that
Gordon Brown and John Prescott had turned up in the morning
to use the exhilarating art-deco Isokon block of flats in
Lawn Road, Belsize Park as a backdrop to sell the story about
how well the government was doing finding homes for key workers.
Since Notting Hill Housing Association took over the block
last year, it has managed to sell all the available bedsits
to key workers.
This column, of course, has always been in favour of finding
homes for teachers, firefighters and social workers. And to
some extent we can claim credit for the fact that our campaign
to keep Isokon public persuaded the council – keen to
flog it off to developers – to hand it over to a housing
association.
Perhaps we were left off yesterday’s guest list because
John Prescott wanted to dodge questions about when the borough
can expect to receive the £280 million worth of cash
withheld since tenants voted against having their council
homes run by the semi-private Arms Length Management Organisation
(Almo).
Free’s (forty) grand design
I HEAR that the Royal Free hospital is advertising for a nurse
for bereavement counselling. Annual salary: £40k.
Nothing wrong with that readers might say. But it is interesting
that the ad appears in the same week the Free admits it does
not have a 24-hour dedicated cleaning service for its accident
and emergency department – the busiest in the hospital
(see page 5.
And why? Because it would be too expensive.
As anyone who has ever been in an A&E department knows,
it’s the one place in a hospital – more than any
ward – that needs regular cleaning. Not once a day.
But several times a day.
Cleaners are required to clear away vomit (often from drunks)
and blood from injured patients or those who staff desperately
try and resuscitate.
If cleaners were rotated, say four times every six hours,
it would only cost the hospital less than £20,000 a
year.
Is it possible the Free cannot afford that?
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