Peter Rhodes on lavish dramas, the winter solstice and an uninvited guest in a political interview

Oops. In this column a few days ago I inadvertently used an oxymoron, one of those careless terms that contradicts itself (military intelligence, fun run, alone together, etc) I referred to “high-class hookers.” There is, of course, no such thing.

The curse of WFH strikes again. Ian Blackford, leader of the SNP in the Commons, was working from home in Scotland when BBC News interviewed him live on the fallout of the North Shropshire by-election.

This gave Blackford a chance to bang on sternly about integrity in public life when something unplanned happened. A large fly landed on his head. That sort of thing doesn’t happen in hermetically sealed BBC studios and, for a few moments, Blackford was totally upstaged by a bluebottle. To make it worse, as the insect wandered through his locks, the MP was stressing the importance of dignity.

As an old hack, raised and trained in more robust times, I believe the media should be able to report just about anything. But after the jailing of murderer David Fuller, I honestly cannot see what useful purpose is served by publicly identifying dead women whose bodies have been sexually abused in morgues.

The National Audit Office says the BBC must economise on dramas if it is to live within funding cuts imposed by the Government.

There is plenty of scope. How many times, for example, have we seen bustling period scenes in streets thronged with costumed characters, Hansom cabs, horseless carriages and all the other trapping of yesteryear? And the scene, which must have taken days to set up, lasts only for a few seconds?

Compare the sweeping outdoor vistas and town scenes in Downton Abbey with the low-budget but far superior Upstairs Downstairs, filmed half a century earlier in about half-a-dozen rooms? Lavish sets are no guarantee of artistic quality.

And let’s not be distracted by historical dramas. There’s plenty of waste in the soaps. Lest we forget, despite years of protests, Auntie Beeb is still ploughing on with its new set for EastEnders. The bill so far is £87 million. Muppets, innit?

Today is the day. The winter solstice falls at precisely 3.58 this afternoon.

From then on the nights grow shorter and the days get longer and, in time, hotter. I can almost smell the bacon on the beach.