James Delingpole James Delingpole

We need more opinionated English eccentrics making documentaries like, ahem, me…

… and A.N. Wilson, whose Return to Betjemanland (BBC4) was a lesson on how to make great TV

Where are the Betjemans de nos jours? [Getty Images] 
issue 06 September 2014

Is it just me or are almost all TV documentaries completely unwatchable these days? I remember when I first started this job I’d review one almost every fortnight. Always there’d be something worth watching: on the horrors of the Pacific or the Eastern Front, say; or castles; or Churchill; or medieval sword techniques.

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