Eastern promises

But there is honour among thieves too. There was a touching story about how President Rafsanjani, desperate to end the futile Iran–Iraq war but knowing that the Ayatollah Khomeini was dead against the humiliation of coming to terms with Saddam Hussein, offered himself up as the fall guy for the decision. He would announce the ceasefire, he suggested, and take the flak if the people turned against him. His scary, beardy, hawk-eyed Supreme Leader thought for a moment then said: ‘No that would not be fair. I will do it.’

Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer’s (BBC2, Wednesday) was almost too painful to watch. Here is a man who earns his living by his pen and his imagination being slowly deprived of the mental agility which most makes his existence worthwhile. We saw him stumbling through a public reading of his Discworld series because there were sudden gaps in his vision where the words on the page ought to be. We saw him heading to America in search of a cure. But of course there isn’t one. Not yet. And guess what the main qualification for gettting Alzheimer’s is. A specialist told it like it is: ‘Bad luck.’ We’re none of us getting any younger. Isn’t the great recession punishment enough?

Here’s something to cheer you all up, though. Well, so long as you use the internet, you like The Sopranos and you’re into swearing (which I am a lot at the moment having recently been in the US, where they hardly swear at all). Go to www.vimeo.com/2998698 and you’ll find, spliced together, every expletive that was ever in The Sopranos. It lasts over 27 minutes.