On Tuesday I suffered the most worrying episode so far in my forced incarceration.  I saw the Alan Titchmarsh show.

Sat, waiting for my appointment at the trauma clinic, I was trapped.  It is hard to run when stuck in the wheel chair.  There was nothing for it except trying to tough it out.

About ten minutes in, I realised the worth of the programming.  I could no longer feel any pain.  In fact, I was struggling to remember that there was a body connected to my brain which was drifting further and further into catatonia.  Who needs anaesthetics when you can wheel out this show.  Could save a fortune on drugs.

But, then they did something to bring me back from the edge of welcoming the rapture.  They decided to debate the issues around the current crisis facing the house of Lords.  It was an Ali-G moment, but done totally straight.

Now, this raises a few questions.

  • Should we be trusting people to be getting their news and political debate from the Alan Titchmarsh show?  Suppose it is no worse than the Sun, Star or (worst of all) the Daily Hate Mail.
  • Does it trivialise important constitutional affairs to have them debated in an off hand manner on a day time TV talk show?
  • Should I now venerate Alan for bringing this important debate to the masses?
  • Is Alan Titchmarsh now a leading commentator on constitutional affairs?

Normality was resumed shortly after with an article on Britain’s fittest grandparent.  Suppose there is a subtle link there.