1997 Week: ‘Panorama Revisited’

BBC 4's mini-series on the Blair years, the ‘1997 Week’ programmes, continued with tonight's superbly effective political piece, ‘Panorama Revisited’.

By the simple conceit of looking back at clips from the Panorama programmes broadcast that year and then having the ever-charming Jeremy Vine give ‘what happened next’ updates, we could see simply how well Labour had lived up to their promises. The short answer is ‘Not very well.’

Labour succeeded in making considerable reforms to the the role of the monarchy and its public representation, and in the advancement of gay rights, ultimately leading to the introduction of civil partnerships in 2005. But in terms of tests provided by more conventional political problems, weaknesses have abounded. Some choice moments:

Mandelson, 1997: ‘It's wonderful to have a discussion with a group of people and see so many great ideas being put forward [for what should be in the dome]. I really think this is going to be a success.’

Street interviewer, 1997: ‘What do you want to say to the people up there trying to work out what to put inside the dome?’
Man on the street: ‘They should burn it down.’

Jeremy Vine, 2007: ‘The dome's biggest problem was that it was trivial. Half the expected number of people turned up.’

John Prescott, 1997, interviewed about the dismal efficiency and safety record of the tube: ‘I've been in office for about six weeks now ... Talk to me again in five years.’

Jeremy Vine, 2007: ‘Five years later, the tube was facing its worst figures in history. Mr Prescott had been relieved of his duties on the matter.’

Documental

Over the weekend my growing lust for quality documentaries was greatly eased by the discovery of two excellent online film archives dedicated to the underrated artform.

Anyone wanting to see incredible things they've never seen before and that have the power to move them and who has tired of the unreliable cinematic assertion, ‘BASED ON A TRUE STORY’, should get right on to the two websites below, which - somehow - are still provided free of charge to anyone with a net connection.

• PBS Frontline
  which features not only around 50 broadband quality, full length watchable documentaries, but also has fascinating background information on all of them which is fascinating to any journalist or media lover.
  

• Obscured TV
  which features older, hard-to-find documentaries produced by various organisations and again watchable online.

It's especially nice to see that in these times where various investors are about to venture along with YouTube and Veoh into the word of web broadcasting, some websites are already quietly leading the way.

Burma's Secret War

Evan Williams’ ‘Burma's Secret War’, just aired a few minutes ago as one of Channel 4's Dispatches programmes, is the most daring and revealing documentary on the politics of a non-democratic state that I've ever seen. I have seen journalists cross borders momentarily or pop in and out of state-controlled regions of land before in other programmes, but the sustained disregard Williams and his interview subjects show for the burmese junta's climate of secrecy is astonishing, and very moving to behold.

Williams joins people affected by the regime's cruelty and faces some of their ordeals by travelling with them to villages already being descended upon by the military. He leaves for the city before trouble arrives, only to immediately begin contacting revolutionaries and the families of victims of the clampdown on political prisoners, passing on his way the dilapidated fortress that is the location of captive former president Aung San Suu Kyi. One such man, clearly already ill, eagerly submits to interview without disguise and when asked about the danger of arrest he faces replies with a smile that "the next time they pick me up... I won't be coming back."

This is a fascinating insight into the state of affairs in the country, and in media terms, as television it allows us to see how, in a state that employs censorship and violence with impunity, the spirit of revolution is kindled against all the odds.