Layman’s terms

I often drone on about how there are television programmes made with love and there are those that are knocked out cynically, to win ratings and advertising, or because the programme makers are just too lazy to come up with anything new, challenging, informative or even entertaining. Hole in the Wall is obviously cynical, as is I’m a Celebrity. On the other hand, Strictly Come Dancing might be as camp as a drag act at Pontin’s, but it is at least made with craft and dedication. You may not care for the show, but somebody plainly cares about getting it right. A classic instance of getting it right is Iran and the West (BBC2), which has been running over three weeks on Saturdays.

And then there’s The Victorians on BBC1 (Sunday), presented by Jeremy Paxman, with, of course, an accompanying book. At first I was annoyed by the BBC’s timidity. You can imagine some programme controller saying, ‘Oh, gosh, a programme telling the story of the Victorians through their paintings. And you’re thinking of getting some art expert? Oh dear, I think we’d better play safe and get Paxman. Not too much arty talk.’

So Paxman it was and, while he is undoubtedly a superb television performer, I did feel somewhat cheated. Couldn’t they have got someone who knows a bit more than him? But then I read the howls of anguish from the art critics, who detest the notion of laymen clambering over their patch with their dirty hands and hob-nailed boots. Like rock music critics, who may be the worst critics in the country since they write principally to impress other rock critics, art critics exist in their own private world from which the rest of us are admitted only on their terms.