Peter Rhodes on balance bikes, romping on TV and an embarrassing moment with Auntie Beeb
Some readers wondered why commentators spent so much time condemning the BBC's refusal to use the word “terrorist,” as though it doesn't matter. But it does.
It matters because the BBC should deal honestly with its viewers and not treat them as idiots. In a world where nothing matters more than trust, the BBC was found lacking last week. As a new week starts, let's hope Auntie gets a grip.
Incidentally, there is no truth in one reader's scandalous assertion that I have a downer on the BBC because they rejected me for a job.
Admittedly, there was that embarrassing moment in 1981 when, all young and ambitious, I was interviewed for a post on Radio WM. It was going well until the executive heading the panel referred to my background as a columnist and said: “Of course you wouldn't be able to express opinions on the BBC because we are impartial.” I assumed he was joking and laughed out loud. That was the end of my glittering career with Auntie. I think it all turned out for the best.
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The Law According to Lidia Poët (Netflix) is an Italian TV drama based on the life of Italy's first modern lawyer and starring Matilda De Angelis. Fabulous settings, great costumes, passionate acting.
But two questions. First, why does almost every episode require the star to get her kit off? Secondly, what's with the repeated shots of women, dead in the morgue, complete with autopsy scars? Maybe the Italians lap it up but to us Brits it's all a bit unnecessary. You don't get that sort of stuff with Miss Marple.
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I wrote last year about our two-year-old grandson venturing out on a balance bike, a machine with no pedals or stabilisers which is claimed to prepare them for real cycles. I was sceptical but the hype proves true. A year on, with barely a wobble, he has made the transition and, at just 44 months, is a confident little pedaller. My grandson, the cyclist. So proud.
After one energetic session on his bike, he slipped wearily into his bed and whispered: “Just a few little sleeps and it's Christmas.” Yup, kid, that's pretty much it.
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