jamesdeberesford-1

To me Columbo is early afternoon weekday TV. In other words, ultra-formulaic drama written for retirees on the edge of dementia who want easily digestible dialogue, plots and characters as clockwork as their medication. Mind, that's not to say it isn't also suitable for college graduates. The trouble is, Columbo is predicated on a series of things that don't add up and in wooden TV land nothing really adds up, including the characters themselves. This episode begins with horribly unsubtle exposition and a brief portrait of a close working relationship gone sour that contains zero chemistry of any kind. That aside, the story is neatly if unspectacularly plotted, the directing Spielbergesque and the villain well cast enough to hold our attention.

But what really saves this for me is the second victim subplot which adds a bit of spice in the form of an American Frances de la Tour fatally infatuated with her Mr Rigsby. Rising Damp will never look the same.

I'm 47 and I've been down a lot of rabbit holes. Naturally, at some point I came across Dr. Greer munching a carrot and whilst I broadly agreed with his contention that ET is in town I had some lingering doubts about his overall schtick and moved on. However, Dr Greer was just getting started.

Revisiting Greer on a podcast in 2023 he hit me with an avalanche of intriguing facts that made me re-assess my impression of him as a somewhat vain and naive ET evangelist. I duly purchased this documentary, available for only £3.49 on Microsoft's Film & TV app.

What can I say? I don't think Dr Greer's utopia will happen but I do believe this film should be watched by all sorts of people who probably never will watch it. Just Stop Oil protesters, for instance. It's one of the most important rabbit holes I've ever been down.

I am somewhat aghast at the mediocre rating this film has got. It is head and shoulders above most films in terms of realism and attention to detail and though it feels a little stagey at times it makes excellent use of location and is a wonderfully evocative snapshot of the era it was filmed in.

Everybody that grew up in or near this time will recognise something in the film that rings true and it may even be fair to say that the film is less constrained than it would be today.

The film blends tragedy and comedy seamlessly so that you get the sense that you shouldn't rush to judge. Events are what they are.

I highly recommend.