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Saturday 16 January 2010

Dumbing down?

I enjoyed Michael Portillo’s visit to the Scottish Borders in Great British Railway Journeys (programme 9) but I am beginning to wonder about his presentation. Had he really never heard of the Border reivers before opening his copy of Bradshaw? Or was he just saying that as a means of engaging the viewer - by professing ignorance so he can explain the history to camera? My jaw dropped when he called the Border reivers a ‘forgotten people’ – they are the stuff of legend in the Northern counties, and are certainly not forgotten. It was fascinating watching the women munitions workers ‘doing their bit’ for the war effort, though.

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