You've got to hand it to the BBC. Yet again, they've really nailed it. Captured the zeitgeist. Taking real life as inspiration, their new drama series 'Bonekickers', about a team of intrepid archaeologists battling for the forces of righteousness (I can't understand why an idea this good hasn't been picked up before), certainly captured the spirit of the times.
For those unfortunate enough to have missed it, the first episode was all about extreme religious fundamentalism, sacred artefacts and the threat these could pose to innocent civilians and society.
Of course, the religious fundamentalists were the Christians. Isn't that always the way in the Western world? The bloody Christians — again. How typical — whenever there's problems with religion and society it's always them, isn't it? People being beheaded (at one point in the show a nice, placid, peace-loving Muslim was beheaded by a rabid Christian wielding a Knights Templar sword. Always the way isn't it?), people flying aeroplanes into buildings, blowing up tube trains (these admittedly didn't actually feature, although give it time) and you can rely on the Christians (or possibly Jews) being behind it somewhere.
Naturally, in the interests of balance, not all the Christians were the bad guys. (Oh, hang on, all the guys who were Christians were bad, if you see what I mean.) The good Christians were allowed to be good thanks to the BBC's big bumper book of cliches, because a) one was a women, and the other doubly exempt due to her being, b) a black woman.
But, as I say, the wicked ones weren't just Christians, as a certain supermarket might say. They were, horror of horrors, right-wing Christians. The sort of wicked fundamentalists that probably read the Daily Mail, and who knows what kind of depravity that might lead to (and if anyone should know, I should).
And the leader of the right-wing Christians was trebly demented, because a) he was a man, b) he was white and c) he wore black leather gloves. Also, just to make we knew just how wicked he was, he d) combed his hair, and e) wore a suit and tie (even worse, the tie was done up. I bet Crippin wore his tie done up).
All the women, naturally, were fiesty fighters, determined to do the right thing. Some of the blokes who weren't pure evil were OK, but they had to be 'characters', with personality defects such that they had clearly escaped from the local mental hospital.
Still, cracking opening episode, eh? And congratulations where they're due. I've not seen such a relentlessly ludicrous, puerile, cliched so-called piece of 'entertainment' for years. The BBC has taken this series to the steepling heights of purest drivel. You must tune in.
Or did I completely miss the point and it was in fact an extremely witty satire on the sort of programme and associated characters that people at the BBC called Jocinda would actually commission?