TWITTERING ON

BY ANGELA KELLY

Do fi lm and TV dramas really tell the truth?

VETERAN broadcaster John Sergeant raised an interesting point about how fictionalised versions of history may fool people into believing this is actually what happened. He was concerned about the Netflix hit series The Crown. He felt the way it depicted the Royal Family might not be “appropriate” and that timelines and events were “massaged and altered” to assist the drama. This comes after the Queen’s ex-press secretary called imagined scenes “distasteful.”

However accurate or otherwise such dramatised versions of real-life are, there is definitely a concern there about how near the truth such versions may be. They are, after all, created for entertainment and perhaps some periods of history, some lives, are just not that interesting for quite a large part of them.

When there are occurrences (and, goodness me, the Royal Family had a year packed with them in 2019) then they tend to be the ones on which, quite naturally, dramatists focus. More worrying – which I think is John Sergeant’s point – is that there will be a large portion of any audience of this kind of “mockumentary” which will take what they see as gospel. They will, wrongly, assume that this is true history being played out by actors and definitely happened. In fact, as in The Crown, there are some scenes “imagined” – in other words, they made it up.

Although accepting that it can be used by those with an agenda to shape public opinion, it’s not necessarily always a damaging ploy. In the hit 2017 film Darkest Hour set in May, 1940, and about Winston Churchill winning the hearts and minds of both Parliament and the public during World War Two, there is a scene on the London underground which is pivotal. Churchill meets and chats to Londoners who give their opinion about the war which alters, or possibly cements, his own views. As a result, he makes an inspirational speech to Parliament.

Apparently, there is no evidence that this ever happened. We don’t mind, though, because it is artistic licence and adds to the points being made about Churchill which were historically accurate.

I suppose the problem is that most of us have either forgotten what we’ve learned of some specific period or event in history or are simply too lazy to find out the truth.

We go with the version that entertains us, happily accepting that this “seems right” so it must be true, which is possibly dangerous naivety.

When meetings really take us nowhere

I LOVE the latest findings about business meetings: that they may be more about status and showing off than actually getting anything done. According to academics from Malmo University and Lund University in Sweden, some managers spend more than half their working week in meetings. However, researchers who observed people meeting in local government, public organisations, the police and health bodies found decision-making is actually very limited.

These findings will be balm to all those harassed souls forced to attend endless meetings with their job. Furthermore, the researchers say that these meetings are often more like “therapy”, allowing people to air complaints, justify their job or clarify their own status.

Brilliant! Some decisions are best taken by a very small number of purpose-driven individuals who will get on with what’s important.

Ready for my 10 o’clock meeting? Sorry, it’s just not productive enough.

YouTube is the go-to place for practical skills

ARE you a Bake Off fan? I watch it sometimes but it always leaves me feeling hungry. I do love, though, Junior Bake Off because it’s not only inspirational but fascinating to witness the skills that these youngsters display with so much confidence.

The latest winner was 13 year-old Finley Woodward. Far from having to be prised off his X-box, Finley plainly loved to cook and was absolutely amazing at it.

He learned his skills from his grandmother and from watching YouTube videos and, while the former seems so logical, us older types have had to come to terms with how people pick up new talents these days.

In fact, YouTube is a fantastic tool. I’ve learned how to put my hair up in quite an enviable style, can now re-wire a plug and regularly watch “how to massage” videos purely for the relaxation. OK, it’s not Bake Off, but what other clip can make your eyelids shut and you feel totally relaxed. Oh, sorry, forgot Newsnight.

Cheers to the wine tasters – and good luck!

I DON’T know about you but I’ve always been in awe of those wine buffs who really understand their subject.

You know the type: they study the bottle before it’s even opened, pronounce on the year or the region in some knowledgeable way, swill the first mouthful lovingly around before swallowing and then talk about its nose or undertones.

Now, research suggests that many so-called wine connoisseurs cannot tell one bottle from another. Food scientists at Oxford University had experienced tasters convinced they were sampling a delicious rose when they actually drinking a white wine – made from an entirely different grape but dyed pink with food colouring. Now, there is concern that wine snobs may not actually be able to distinguish one tipple from another by taste and aroma but are primarily driven by colour. In that case, minesh a red! DAVID Walliams may be a comedian but he is definitely laughing all the way to the bank as the writer of children’s books.

The creator of Mr Stink, The Boy in the Dress and Gangsta Granny has notched up sales of £100 million. This puts the Britain’s Got Talent judge into an exclusive bracket of children’s authors. Since he first started writing children’s literature in 2008, the former Little Britain star has written 25 books including seven picture books and four short story collections.

Perhaps what helps the talented Walliams is that he now has a six year-old son but I’m sure what is equally important is his own quirky personality and lack of fear when it comes to performing in public. He’s worth a book in himself.

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