At least two big occasions demand our attention this week – Lent and the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Songs of Praise (BBC One, Sunday) covered both of these really well. The programme came from the Lincoln area, with presenter Sean Fletcher, who described Lent as a time when people challenge themselves,…
One of the reasons I’d rage against war is that it is entirely man made. Natural disasters produce a different response, but human inadequacy or irresponsibility can make the outcome worse. The media coverage of the Turkey/Syria earthquake included suggestions that after the 1999 earthquake in the area, buildings were not subsequently erected to be…
I was triggered too much last week so I’m edgy. I get triggered when I hear stories about trigger warnings being added to innocuous or even worthy material. Last year it was the (trenchantly anti-racist) novel To Kill a Mockingbird, last week it was Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen! Lunchtime Live (Newstalk, Tuesday) took a…
Last Friday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, and there were several related programmes of interest during the week. How The Holocaust Began (BBC Two, Monday) was one of the most chilling. So many documentaries have been made that it must be hard to find some fresh angle. Even so, it is essential that we are frequently…
It’s pro-life season in the USA, with the Marches for Life in Washington and on the East Coast. The EWTN channel is broadcasting a range of pro-life programmes for the occasion. One of the best was Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (EWTN, Saturday), a new documentary from Canadian Kevin Dunn. Comprised of four personal story vignettes…
One of my favourite Christmas albums is Phil Cunningham’s Christmas Songbook and one of my favourite TV shows is the Transatlantic Sessions, so I was in my element last Friday night on BBC Four. It was the start of Wayfaring Stranger with Phil Cunningham, a three part series on the links between the folk music…
The word ‘unprecedented’ has had many outings in the last three years, and media commentators reached for it again in relation to the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict was already a master of the unprecedented thanks to his surprise resignation in 2013. Some early coverage of his death was inclined to be lazy, clichéd…
Looking back over the Christmas programming I was on the lookout for something different, original and creative amidst the huge amount of repeats. Pick of the bunch for me was A Christmas Postcard: The History of the Nativity Story (Lyric FM Christmas week). Each morning there was a reflection with Scripture readings, dramatisation and music…
TV & Radio Review 2022 I can still remember my unprintable language when I woke up on the morning of February 24 to hear that the long-dreaded Russian invasion of Ukraine had started. At the end of Newstalk Breakfast that day Cormac Smith, former advisor to the Ukrainian government, said “the fog of war has…
Pick of the Season Cliff at Christmas BBC Two, Saturday December 17, 9.35pm Cliff Richard is joined by special guests for this festive TV show from Hackney Church in London. The multi-award winning artist performs some of his Christmas classics. A Christmas History of Sacred Music BBC 4, Saturday (night) December 17, 1.50am and Tuesday…
Brendan O’Regan