Newsnight Review, 8 December, 2006
- 8 Dec 06, 06:40 PM
The panel discusses: The Nativity Story - a biblical big screen outing based on the gospels of Matthew and Luke; Mark Ravenhill - best known for Shopping and F***ing - changes tack to oversee the Barbican's first pantomime, Dick Whittington & His Cat; Housewife, 49, Victoria Wood's wartime drama; and Patrick Marber's new play
Don Juan in Soho.
Join Martha and co at 2300GMT on 主播大秀 Two after Newsnight and watch it again from Saturday on .
As ever, your comments are welcome below.
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What were the black gloves for?
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Good gracious, what's up with Lionel Shriver and those long, thick leather gloves? Is it some kind of Michael Jackson homage? And while a diversity of background is good, what's the point of sending a bunch of intellectuals - one of whom has never been to a panto, another of whom just hates the form and doesn't give it a chance - to something so popularist. Martha should have mentioned its Commedia dell'arte roots, then everyone would have just LOVED it, darling.
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I hope the panel had to endure 'Housewife 49' with excrutiating, unannounced footage of mouthwatering Xmas dainites every 15 minutes, as we had to.
In this case, the drama was actually strong enough to overcome these barriers, but the experience was totally destroyed.
The total disregard for any niceties of context was staggeringly arrogant. Suddenly, amid the Utility and Make-Do-And-Mend drabness of Morrisson shelters and recycled bloomers, a plate of Parma ham and stilton would appear, or a mustard glazed joint of beef, looking like a sunset when sliced, or some other extravagance.
They might at least have had the decency to alert the viewer with some kind of graphic.. But apparently, the advertiser believed that the stark contrast with the wartime colour scheme would enhance the technicolor smellovision of his food photography. And that this was only achievable if sprung on the viewer without warning.
Whether this regular jolt from the mental atmosphere of the drama is actually unhealthy is difficult to say. The rest of the ad break, was, if anything, even more orgiastically decadent and disgusting. It is certainly impossible to remember Victoria Wood's piece without also recalling what really spoilt it.
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I also was fascinated by the gloves.Does the wearer have a leather fetish,were they used to cover up some bizarre deformity,or were they perhaps a double-handed tribute to Alvin Stardust?
A shame, as I couldn't really concentrate on the programme which looked as if it had something for everyone.
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