TV watch: Julius Caesar and Between the Covers

[callmemadam]

Yesterday evening, I watched the start of a new series, Julius Caesar: the Making of a Dictator. Like most documentaries of this type, it took an hour to tell you what you could read in ten minutes. And oh dear, it was done in the same style as the Shakespeare series I disparaged recently. The three main protagonists, Julius Caesar, Cato and Pompey were speechless and spent a lot of time looking enigmatic or glaring at nothing (the baleful influence of Mark Rylance again?) These scenes, plus many shots of menacing-looking flocks of birds, were intercut with a lot of chat from talking heads including St Rory Stewart, who is to my mind behaving oddly these days. All praise then to Mary Beard, who can carry an hour’s programme entirely alone and tell you a lot about Julius Caesar without a crowd of people looking ridiculous in togas. It takes a lot of skill to wear a toga, a wig or indeed a top hat as if you’ve been wearing one all your life and few actors possess it.

I always watch Between the Covers in the hope of hearing about a book I might like to read and sometimes, I do. Yesterday’s episode must have been the worst of the series so far. What on earth is the point of having on a book programme a man who confesses to never reading a book? The star was absolutely Ahir Shah. I enjoyed his intelligent comments but I doubt if he persuaded anyone to read his BYOB, which was Hobbes’ Leviathan. It doesn’t do to be too clever on television.

Comments

[gwendraith]

I watch Between the Covers when I remember it's on. If they removed Strictly:Take Two (which I don't watch) after Richard Osman's House of Games I would remember it was on.

[callmemadam]

It depends a lot on who's on. Sandi Toksvig was on last week and she was brilliant.

[lethe1]

Love Sandi!

[lethe1]

At least Ed Byrne said that the programme helped him get back into reading again. :-)

I have My Sister, the Serial Killer on my library reading list, and the praising comments made me think I should move it up a little.

And I like it when someone dares disagree with the others and say they didn't care for a book.

I sometimes yell at the TV when people present their BYOB. I seem to remember someone had picked The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas once, or was it another one by John Boyne? Anyway, horrible.

[callmemadam]

I agree with all that. I think people cheat with their BYOB. Sometimes you can tell that they really have brought a book they've known and loved for years but more often they seem to pick something very recent. I wouldn't know how to choose.
I was so traumatised after seeing the film of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas that I couldn't possibly read the book.