At a time when the Anglican Communion gives the impression of collapse, and when falling attendance should make the Church of England more and more irrelevant, it is extraordinary that (some) Anglican archbishops are turned to respectfully, in the fully realised expectation that they will give a far better lead than the politicians who are supposed to control all the levers of power.
This is the kind of statement you would expect from the kind of vicar eager to put the best possible construction on events, and, in order to bolster up his fading self-image, to paint his Church in the most glowing colours (i.e. someone like me). This was, in fact (somewhat paraphrased), a comment made by the star of The Andrew Marr Show (Sunday, BBC1).
No one would consider Mr Marr a leading apologist for our Communion, and yet he was keen to acknowledge the stature and independence of two interviewees — Archbishops Tutu and Sentamu — giving far more robust statements about how the Zimbabwe crisis should be dealt with than any president or prime minister was prepared to offer.
Immediate, decisive action was needed, they both declared, and neither shrank from the possibility of armed intervention, if given proper international sanction. In all our current troubles, this is a moment to ponder and treasure: the BBC’s leading current-affairs commentator might still look to us for guidance. I sensed genuine affection, as Mr Marr looked forward to welcoming both men (these were OB interviews) to his studio in the future.
A horror closer to home overshadowed Jews: The next generation, in BBC4’s series about contemporary British Jewry (Wednesday of last week). This succession of quiet, understated interviews demonstrated how the pain, guilt, and repression of Holocaust survivors still govern the lives of their children.
People who have never known anything other than a comfortable life in Britain are forced to carry their parents’ burden, however hard they tried to bury it in assimilation. This was sobering and enlightening TV, making brilliant use of the contrast between black-and-while newsreel of Nazi atrocities, and saturated colour shots of the British countryside. The monochrome tragedy, it proclaimed, you will always carry within you.
It was out of pastoral responsibility rather than prurience that I watched Snowdon and Margaret (Channel 4, Saturday); for their marital home lies in our parish, just over the Vicarage garden wall.
This revisionist work presented compelling evidence that the sympathy extended to Lord Snowdon on his divorce was seriously misplaced. His brilliance went hand in hand with a constitutional incapacity for sexual fidelity: the succession of affairs continued throughout his engagement and marriage, long before the Princess sought solace elsewhere.
The most remarkable reflection is that such a programme, with revealing contributions from close friends, can be broadcast during the lifetime of the person being subjected to trial by television. Our culture of deference evaporated long ago — perhaps basic decency has similarly fled.
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