The Great Offices of State, BBC Two | reviews, news & interviews
The Great Offices of State, BBC Two
The Great Offices of State, BBC Two
Wily political veteran Michael Cockerell probes the "hotbed of cold feet" that is the Foreign Office
Thursday, 18 February 2010
The Great Offices of State: Michael Cockerell visits the Foreign Office
That title has been troubling me. The Great Offices of State is so stolid and dull, like an illustrated Ladybird children’s book from the 1950s - The Flags of the Commonwealth, or some such. And then you start trying to think of alternatives, a play on Yes, Minister perhaps, and you soon see that this flippancy wouldn't do justice to what is in fact a masterful achievement - the sort of television series that will (or should) be shown in schools and universities for years to come. Perhaps they should have simply called it Another Political Documentary Series by the Great Michael Cockerell, which would have been quite enough to secure my attendance.
That title has been troubling me. The Great Offices of State is so stolid and dull, like an illustrated Ladybird children’s book from the 1950s - The Flags of the Commonwealth, or some such. And then you start trying to think of alternatives, a play on Yes, Minister perhaps, and you soon see that this flippancy wouldn't do justice to what is in fact a masterful achievement - the sort of television series that will (or should) be shown in schools and universities for years to come. Perhaps they should have simply called it Another Political Documentary Series by the Great Michael Cockerell, which would have been quite enough to secure my attendance.
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