Wednesday, 24 August 2016

476 Did You See... ?



First  viewed :  Late  1980 /early  1981

Beginning  in  December  1980,  this  review  and  discussion  programme   followed  on  from  the  shorter  , less  ambitious  Armchair  Critics  earlier  in  the  year. It  retained  the  three  programme / three  guests  discussion  at  its  core  but  also  incorporated  the  hosts' review  of  the  past  week, a  quiz  and  a  special  pre-filmed  report.

Taking  over  as  presenter  was  respected  journalist  and  occasional  parliamentary  candidate  Ludovic  Kennedy. The  guests  were  chosen  on  the  basis  of  the  special  insight  they  could  bring  to  the  discussion  of   one   of  the  three  programmes under  the  spotlight  so  you  had  an  eclectic  blend  of  celebrities, writers, academics  and  the  odd  politician  filling  the  chairs.

I  always  found  Kennedy's  style   a  bit  too  dry  so  this  never  became  appointment  TV  for  me. One  or  two  episodes  do  stick  in  the  mind. I  remember  Tony  Benn  being  on  for  the  discussion  of  a  Channel  4  series  on  libertarian  philosophies  and  offering  his  own  uniquely  warped  worldview. "You're  getting  in  quite  a  bit  of  propaganda  yourself  Tony"  Kennedy  interjected  drolly.

The  other  one  had  Jeffrey  Archer  on  when  they  were  discussing  Moonlighting . Sarah  Dunant , who  stood  in  when  Kennedy  wasn't  well, was  the  host  and  when  Archer's  turn  came  round  he  first  produced  a  bottle  of  champagne  and  glasses  and  then  copies  of  the  script  he'd  transcribed  and  run  off  to  re-enact  with  Dunant  and   the  other  guests. One  was  telegenic  union  boss  Brenda  Dean . I  can't  recall  who  the  other  was ; maybe  they  ran  off. Clearly  startled,  the  women  humoured  him  for  a  short  time  but  the  farce  just  left  you  thinking  what  an  arsehole  this  man  is.  Given  the  quality  of  his  own  output  you  wonder  how  he  had  the  gall  to  criticise  anyone  else's  writing .

Kennedy  stepped  down  in  1988  and  the  series  was  off  air  for  a  couple  of  years  until  Jeremy  Paxman  took  the  chair  in  1991. He  presided  until  1993  when  the  show  was  axed.

Ludovic  Kennedy  died  in  a  nursing  home  in  2009  aged  89.

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