ahlstrom-31-880802

Michael Portillo has more than one recent episode where he visits eastern Scotland.. It is all very interesting, especially Edinburgh. In his trip though geological regions near Dunbar, he unfortunately repeats the mistaken belief that the Bible teaches the world is only 6,000 years old. It does not, that timeline was added to the margins of the contemporaneous Bibles by a medieval clergyman (it was long known to be incorrect because when studied carefully it was shown to have made Noah and Abraham roughly contemporaries which they were obviously not). The Bible suggests the earth and universe are much, much older.

The Father Brown mysteries are enjoyable to watch, and the cast very likable. Of particular note is Jack Deam, who plays the grumpy but competent Inspector Mallory. Father Brown is an excellent foil for the grimacing Mallory. If the Pink Panther films are ever redone, Jack Deam would be an excellent Chief Inspector to the Inspector Clouseau character; he would be very entertaining.

The show takes the viewer around some interesting rivers, such as the Yangtze in China. It is fast moving and includes some unusual sights like a mega church in Nanjing, China. But the narrator betrays a consistent anti-western bias, and a 1960s-style ignorance of economic development. His comments implying that greed is unique to a capitalist system are remarkably ignorant. He also understands little about the countries he visits. When visiting Nanjing, the WW2 Nanjing massacre merited barely 5 seconds, though it was and is a defining event in the lives of Chinese people (but the Opium war merited a major segment, and he just labelled it as "from the West" and not some greedy politicians and monopolists In 19th century Britain). BBC needs to drop the dated 1950s and 60s style economics from their shows.