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Doctor’s dilemma

James Delingpole

Wednesday, 16th April 2008

Dr Who (BBC1)

At this stage, the Fawn and I exchanged groans and rolled our eyes in disbelief. Doctor Who is a genius, a man of the universe...Since when did he acquire the blinkered values of a bearded Sixties sociology lecturer? Why can his superbrain not grasp the point that what may seem like a slave-wage to a bienpensant TV scriptwriter is yet a king’s ransom for a South-East Asian textile worker, who only has his job because of the comparative advantage his nation has in cheap labour? This is A-level economics we’re talking here, not Tardis science.

I still think Doctor Who’s great, by the way — unmissable and one of the best things on TV. It’s witty, pacy, well acted, with gripping storylines and increasingly impressive special effects. But everyone says that. I just don’t think it should be allowed to get away with its rubbish bits.

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In the doldrums

Simon Hoggart

Hole in the Wall (BBC1, Saturday); American Future: A History (BBC2, Friday); John Adams (More 4, Saturday)

Fickle fortune

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Tulips in Winter (BBC Radio 3); Soul and Skin (BBC Radio 4)

On the road

Peter Phillips

Peter Phillips travels between music festivals

Credit where it’s due

Charles Spencer

Charles Spencer battles the credit crunch

Fear and menace

Deborah Ross

Gomorrah
15, Nationwide

High Life

Taki

In praise of older women

Global Warning

Theodore Dalrymple

My one regret at having retired from the National Health Service is that I no longer receive official circulars.

Real Life

Melissa Kite

Don’t be fooled

State education has outlawed difficulty

Harry Mount

But private schools, private tutors and bestselling books are filling the vacuum, says Harry Mount. Larkin was right: there is a hunger in us all ‘to be more serious’