TV programs worth watching
Sun August 1 — Sat August 7

Andrew Davies' six-part adaptation of Pride And Prejudice 
returns to the screen this week (ABC 8.30pm Sundays). I have 
seen this series about six times now and although its virtues 
survive its flaws do not diminish.

It remains a very stylish and technically accomplished 
production: settings, costumes and locations are excellent, of a 
very high standard indeed. But there are deficiencies in the 
writing, the direction and the acting which mar the production, 
at times cruelly.

Davies' crass summing up of Jane Austen's original novel as being 
"about sex and money" points to the source of much of the 
problem: he simply did not understand the book.

The late 18th century was a time of much intellectual ferment. 
The Enlightenment and the ideas of the French Revolution strongly 
influenced the English intelligentsia.

Austen may have been the daughter of a clergyman, but her works 
are redolent of the contemporary developments in philosophy and 
social attitudes. Pride And Prejudice has great 
psychological and social depth.

It is precisely because it is not merely about "sex and money" 
that the book remains so engaging almost 200 years later.

Davies' failure to deal adequately with Austen's novel underlies 
two of the other failures: certain of the performances, and the 
direction.

Mr Collins is clearly portrayed by Austen as a fool, and an 
embarrassingly pompous one at that. In this production, David 
Bamber plays him as a cunning sycophant. He may be foolish but he 
is no fool.

The performance that is totally out of whack, however, is that of 
Alison Steadman as Mrs Bennet, the heroine's mother. Austen makes 
it clear (indeed, explicit) that Mrs Bennet is an empty-headed 
ninny.

Steadman plays her as a shrew, a nagging, tantrum-throwing, 
vicious-minded shrew. Austen has Mr Bennet, who married a pretty 
face only to discover there was no intellect behind it, trying to 
derive pleasure from laughing at his wife's stupidities, and 
encouraging his older daughters to do the same.

There is little for him to laugh at in Alison Steadman's 
interpretation. In fact, her performance is so misjudged that the 
series' makers were obliged to drop the delightful but 
significant scene near the end where Elizabeth tells her mother 
the shocking news of her engagement to Darcy, because there is no 
way the characterisation built up by Ms Steadman could have 
played the scene successfully.

As for the direction, why on earth do they have Elizabeth 
constantly go running about pointlessly, as though she is 
training for the Longbourne to Meryton marathon? Is it meant to 
show her frustration with her straitlaced life? Her tomboyish 
nature? Her goofy running style?

There is no running in the book and a well brought up young woman 
of 20 would simply not have done it.

Austen makes us party to Elizabeth's thoughts. In the previous TV 
series, Elizabeth voiced her thoughts in a voice-over that, 
naturally, only the audience hears. In this production she 
actually speaks her thoughts aloud, a clumsy arrangement that 
defies common sense.

All in all, this remains a gorgeously filmed, beautifully 
costumed and staged production which is worth watching despite 
Alison Steadman's gross misreading of Mrs Bennet. But read the 
book for the real experience.

Despite the best efforts of Britain and the US (with the eager 
help of the Howard Government) to destroy Zimbabwe's economy and 
blatantly interfere in its elections, the government of ZANU-PF 
and Robert Mugabe has survived.

Imperialism does not easily give up, however, when there is 
profit at stake, and efforts to undermine the Zimbabwe Government 
and bring about its overthrow continue. The propaganda war 
against the country is unceasing.

Cutting Edge: Secrets of the Camps (SBS 8.30pm Tuesday) 
purports to be "a groundbreaking investigation by the BBC's 
Africa correspondent, Hilary Andersson who has uncovered the 
horrifying background to the creation of Robert Mugabe's feared 
youth militia.

"In their training camps the Zimbabwean government is subjecting 
thousands of innocent youths to rape, brainwashing and brutality. 
It is all part of a process designed to mould youths loyal to 
Robert Mugabe and his ZANU party."

Yep, that's how left wingers build political movements all right.

It would make you laugh if this stuff wasn't so unrelenting, and 
so sinister. The message put out with the publicity for this 
program is a blatant call for imperialist intervention: "The 
testimonies in Secrets Of The Camps are evidence of massive human 
rights violations that put Robert Mugabe's administration in 
violation of international law".

With oil, gold and diamonds at stake, imperialism is looking for 
excuses for "humanitarian intervention" to "restore democracy and 
the rule of law". Like in Iraq.

Quest For The Lost Pharaoh, screening on The Big 
Picture (ABC 8.30pm Wednesday), is an account of the 
discovery (with attendant camera crew) of the tomb of a sixth 
dynasty Egyptian priest, described in a cartouche as "close 
friend of the Pharaoh".

The unearthing of the modest tomb, with its burial chamber some 
25 feet under the ground, is fascinating to watch, as the French 
archeological team read the hieroglyphs on the walls and door 
lintels to discover just who it is they are digging up.

The French crew were looking for evidence of the "lost" Sixth 
dynasty pharaoh Ouserkare. Four of the six pharaohs of that 
dynasty have never been found.

The priest whose tomb they uncover may well have worked for 
Ouserkare, but all sections of stone baring the name of the 
priest's pharaoh had been removed in antiquity, presumably to 
obliterate his record.

The program has some clever computer graphics, at one point 
explosively reconstructing a temple around the archeologist as he 
walks through the barely discernible ruins. On the other hand, 
the program was made for US cable outfit the Discovery Channel, 
so it is forever striving for dramatic effect, which after a 
short while does become tiresome.

It is as though they believe their audience to be oafs, incapable 
of taking an interest in a serious, factual subject unless it is 
jazzed up with ominous music and announcements of either imminent 
momentous discoveries or grave danger.