In bleak times, Brits could rely on light entertainment to get them through. George Formby and Vera Lynn made the Blitz bearable. Slade and T Rex got people through the three-day week and power cuts of the 1970s. In the good times of the money-in-your-pocket 1990s, we had equally cheery, cheeky media like The Fast Show, The Full Monty, boy bands and Britpop. But nowadays, when the headline news is depressing, low culture has deserted us. Light entertainment takes itself so seriously that it no longer provides any form of escape.
The tediously partisan agit-prop that is today’s The Last Leg offers no such sanctuary
The high-end TV hits that fill our screens are all grim and self-important. Formerly breezy nonsenses like Bad Education or Doctor Who have been retooled to scold us with a rictus-smile. The BBC made a big splash by winning the Christmas ratings war with Wallace and Gromit and Gavin and Stacey; the revival of these ancient brands showed that making good, easy-to-watch TV, is still possible.
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