The Village; Episode II

No-one is coping very well: the people at the big house are losing their grip, the girl who came breezing in like the spirit of the 20th century is turning into a self-righteous teetotalitarian, her father, the Methodist minister, is preaching pacifism. the poor- brutalized and brutal- are some of them mocking religion and some of them subjecting a supposed rapist to rough music, backed up with scythes and pitchforks. An old order is twisting and buckling under the pressure of modernity. If this is "lefty nonsense"- as Christoper Stevens says it is in The Mail- then Thomas Hardy is lefty nonsense too. I think The Mail and those it serves are un-nerved by the Village. They're unused to its palette-knife wielding bravura; it's too strong for their tastes- too much like Art.  It's handing the British people their history back- unprettified, un-Fellowesed- and history is tricky, unstable stuff.

On The Death Of Margaret Thatcher

I may be giving the TV news bulletins a miss for a day or two.

It's too late to be angry. She's been wandering in the mist for a long time now.

She was, she isn't any longer, her influence- more's the pity- lingers. I don't want to hear people talking about her or replaying her greatest hits. Above all, I don't want to hear her voice.  I lived through her era and once is enough.

As my friend shullie wrote, "Oh, she's gone has she? Here, have some pictures of meerkats."

Critical Reactions

Charles Moore in the Telegraph thinks The Village is "twaddle". Peter Hitchens (who, as you know, I respect) hates it too.

Meanwhile Arifa Akbar at the Indy really likes it and Sam Wollaston at the Guardian quite likes it.

The response seems to be dividing along traditional right/left lines, which is odd because, as I've said in a comment, I don't see it as a particularly political piece of work. It depicts a society in turmoil, but without blackening the aristocratic old guard or white-washing the workers.

Does the right feel threatened by any depiction of its rural power base as less than idyllic? I suppose it must.

It's What Everybody Is Talking About. One Might As Well Join In

Most British Prime Ministers leave behind a legacy of indifference. Who today feels strongly about John Major or even Gordon Brown? The two exceptions of recent times are Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher. Blair unites the country in contempt; Thatcher divides it.  She's been out of office for nearly a quarter of a century and still commands adoration and hatred.  Dividing a nation and keeping it divided is a rare achievement.  I can't think of any other person since the Civil War who has managed to pull it off.

That is why a state funeral is not in order. If they paraded her through the streets the way they did the Duke of Wellington or Churchill or Princess Di there would be a mixed hail of roses and rotten veg. Public order could not be guaranteed.

The BBC seems to think it needs to suspend normal programming in order to talk and talk and talk about her. It's in danger of wearing out the patience of at least half of us (probably more like three quarters to be honest).