Speaking of Ludditism… I made the mistake last night of watching a programme on the BBC about the MMR jab. It began as an apparently sensible documentary about vaccination but descended into stupidity. We had the presenter being given reams of paper saying that MMR was safe. He said he still wasn’t sure, blamed the Government for not being able to convince him, and then went on to demand that politicans be more equivocal. He noted that the media had worried people with little evidence before taking out magazine ads and putting up posters asking the public to raise concerns about MMR. I switched channels but went back to see if he’d decided to get his daughter the jab after all, and was faced with a thoroughly pointless stunt projecting a campaign slogan on the House of Parliament. Editorialising, incoherent rubbish.

The next show I watched was When Blue Peter Became ABBA. Another error, but another programme that started promisingly. Quickly though it became apparent that Zoe Ball’s chosen presenting style for this was “snide”. Cue sarcastic comments about the four ex-Blue Peter presenters’ admittedly poor attempts to sing, and various digs at the band they were “paying tribute to”. Topped off with a surprisingly successful finale – helped, as far as I could tell, by backing instruments that concealed the band’s weaknesses – and I wanted to throw something at the TV.

Which I almost did when I was then shown an ad for Spoons, a new sitcom starring Rob Rouse of The Top 100 Ugliest Comedians fame. (#1 indeed.) The usual response to Christian Voice types who complain about TV is the off button.

Reader, I used it.