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fpbAnchorwoman Julie Etchingham is one of the most beautiful women in British TV. A few years ago, when she was sent to cover the Oscars, she out-glamoured practically every actress she met. Now ITV has hired her to front their resurrected ten o'clock news program together with Sir Trevor MacDonald. Superficially, this must have looked like the dream team - the Sage and the Valkyrie, shall we say.
This will surely prove one of the resounding disasters of TV history. To begin with, they set out to compete with the BBC's flagship ten o'clock newscast (which, in the old days, was at nine o'clock, so no competition). I despise the BBC news department, but purely as an objective fact, this is like picking a fight with a Tiger tank. The image of BBC newsgathering, however undeserved, is burnished, and anyone who goes up against them is looking for trouble. Also, according to critics who have watched the program more closely than I have, there is no chemistry whatever between Sir Trevor and Julie.
One thing that struck me may be of less import, but it is not without its weight. Have you noticed that, when a TV or movie idea is really badly wrong, then everything, even things that have little to do with the central mistake, tend to go wrong? Julie Etchingham, as I said, is a most beautiful woman; but she has been appearing with a ridiculous outdated sixties eggcup hairdo, which completely plays down her spectacular features and does little for her complexion and eyes. I wonder if she realizes how poor she looks; if I were her, I would have thrown a tantrum at the very least. And after all, if it is beauty that ITV is paying for - and not paying cheaply, you may be sure - beauty is what they should want to show.
This will surely prove one of the resounding disasters of TV history. To begin with, they set out to compete with the BBC's flagship ten o'clock newscast (which, in the old days, was at nine o'clock, so no competition). I despise the BBC news department, but purely as an objective fact, this is like picking a fight with a Tiger tank. The image of BBC newsgathering, however undeserved, is burnished, and anyone who goes up against them is looking for trouble. Also, according to critics who have watched the program more closely than I have, there is no chemistry whatever between Sir Trevor and Julie.
One thing that struck me may be of less import, but it is not without its weight. Have you noticed that, when a TV or movie idea is really badly wrong, then everything, even things that have little to do with the central mistake, tend to go wrong? Julie Etchingham, as I said, is a most beautiful woman; but she has been appearing with a ridiculous outdated sixties eggcup hairdo, which completely plays down her spectacular features and does little for her complexion and eyes. I wonder if she realizes how poor she looks; if I were her, I would have thrown a tantrum at the very least. And after all, if it is beauty that ITV is paying for - and not paying cheaply, you may be sure - beauty is what they should want to show.
