646 Kennedy

First  viewed : 20  November  1983

Of  course  1983  was  the  20th  anniversary  of   the   post-war  twentieth  century's  most  seismic  event  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  TV  time  devoted  to  it. ITV  broadcast  this  sympathetic  U.S. mini-series  broadcast  over  three  nights,  concluding  on  the  anniversary  itself.

Kennedy  was  played  by  Martin  Sheen  who  didn't  look  particularly  like  JFK  but  certainly  had  the  political  sympathies. John  Shea  was  an  even  poorer  likeness  for  Robert  Kennedy  while  conversely  Blair  Brown  did  look  a  lot  like  Jackie. The  series  took you  through  the  highs, -the  election  victory, the  Cuban  missile  crisis  - and  the  lows - the  Bay  of  Pigs, the  death  of  young  Patrick - through  to  the  day  of  destiny  in  Dallas.

As  a  Catholic,  I  still  feel  a  sense  of  outraged  loss  even  though  it  happened  over  a  year  before  I  was  born. The  only  crumb  of  comfort  I  can  glean  from  Trump's  victory  is  that  at  least  it  stopped  a  third  member  of  the  ghastly  Bush  dynasty  getting  into  the  White  House  while  the  Kennedys  are  still  stuck  on  one.