mypipeline

I’ve already professed an admiration for Richard Dawkins’ no-nonsense approach to a studied life. But I’ve got to say that his latest series on Channel4 (The Genius of Charles Darwin) was a let down. In the last episode, it was disappointing to watch Dawkins’ interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams degrade into an imbalanced polemic rather than discussion. I don’t think it was Dawkins fault either, but the producer/editor of the programme. Dawkins would put forward the evidence from biology and genetics; the Archbishop would fend off the science with clearly unconvincing ‘evidence’ from the Bible. But when Dawkins accused Williams of using poetic language to cover up the cracks in his argument, the interview faded to another scene, leaving the Archibishop’s words drifting off, as if to say that his words were not worth listening to. It just appeared that Dawkins needed to have ‘the last word’ and dismissed the Archibishop in a vain manner. The scene would have had much more lasting impact had Dawkins let Williams dig the religious argument into a deeper hole. It wold be good too if Dawkins at least ackowledged the peace and meaning that religion does afford people who are unwilling or unable to study life in all its complexities the way that he has. His arrogant tone in the films just comes across to bold for so many, and if his aim is to convince religious believers in a different, more analytical approach to the Big Questions, then his television outings are failing miserably.

I turned over to watch Dragons Den afterwards, and was gripped with yet more irritation - just how much superficial padding goes into the edits of these programmes so that they can be flogged to Dave for endless reruns. The actual pitches and responses only seem to now account for around 70% of the show; the other 30% consists of preview takes on something you are just about to watch. Can’t the BBC just make a cut for ad-funded stations and another for its own channels?

In: The Bug List | | #