Must See TV

Watch ITV at 10:35 tonight. John Pilger. With, among others, Julian Assange.

Watch ITV3 from time to time in order to remind yourself of just how good it used to be. But it still has its moments, of which this will be one.

In fact, as in so many other ways, Britain has come out the other side where television is concerned. In some cases interspersed with advertisements for butter by the country squire that Johnny Rotten has become, we settle down in enormous numbers to a talent contest, to a ballroom dancing competition hosted by Bruce Forsyth, to a costume drama about the Edwardian aristocracy and their servants, to Doctor Who, and to two thoroughly domestic soap operas, one of which has not been out of the top 10 in any week for 50 years.

Chat shows, Armstrong & Miller, Mitchell & Webb, even Peep Show in many ways. And the most talked-about sit com of this season, even if it is not quite my cup of tea, is so old-school that each episode concludes with a "You have been watching" slot like Dad's Army or 'Allo, 'Allo.

Now, watch ITV at 10:35 tonight. John Pilger. With, among others, Julian Assange.