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TV: So whose big idea was television?
by Conrad Astley26/ 5/2005
IF you're looking for an antidote to the brain eating curse of
modern Britain that is Big Brother and Celebrity Love Island - and
let's face it, you are - then Channel Five could hold the
answer.
Big Ideas That Changed The World
(Tuesday,
Five) is the first of six documentaries which will feature
some remarkable figures explaining their personal takes on the
philosophies which shaped the 20th century.
Mikhail Gorbachev will give us a unique perspective on communism,
as the man who lived through the ideology and eventually helped try
to destroy it. During this rare account, he will talk about how his
life was intertwined with the "beautiful and dangerous idea."
Although he remarks, "what the founders of communism failed to
realise is that the dream of communism is never achievable",
Gorbachev closes with his thoughts on the world in 2005, that now
"capitalism requires its own perestroika."
Have a quick flick to watch those oafs in the Big Brother house,
and you may well end up agreeing with him.
Other figures to appear over the next few weeks will include
Archbishop Desmond Tutu talking about Christianity and Tony Benn
talking about democracy.
Getting back to capitalism, this week sees the final two episodes
of
Desperate Housewives
(Wednesday, Channel
Four), promising to answer all the unexplained questions about
the residents of Wisteria Lane.We finally discover why poor Mary
Alice did herself in back in the first episode, and much more
besides.
Derren Brown's specials have always proved to be television events.
The Gathering
(Channel Four, Sunday) has
the potential to see his act watered down, as the illusionist will
perform before various celebrity "fans". However, it could prove
interesting, as the live show will also take place before various
magic experts, psychologists and psychics eager to point out
exactly where his mirrors have been placed.
Tutankhamun Exhumed
(Channel Four,
Saturday) is also worth a mention, if only for the satisfying
way its title trips off the tongue. The idea - a group of
scientists working as detectives to find out how a character died
thousands of years ago - may be nothing new, but this offers
something different.
The team - the third to dig up the 3,000-year-old Pharaoh in the
last century - put him through a CAT scan, but have just three
hours before the Egyptian authorities want him safely tucked up
again.
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