My favourite TV show when i was growing up was Whickers World. I loved the guy in the suit pontificating on the world outside. This was back in the day when no one but the very rich traveled anywhere, when it took days to travel to Japan, for instance. Once a week he would report on the weirdness of abroad. He collected many awards and was the founder of the ’signed documentary’, which is all too common now. In his eighties now, Alan Whicker recently had a short series on the BBC looking back over his reports and revisiting the places and people he had reported on. I particularly enjoyed revisiting Nauru, a small island 2,500km from anywhere. It’s like something from a Kurt Vonnegut novel. An island whose economy rests on bird shit. At one time the highest per capita income in the world. It’s inhabitants opt to spend spend spend. The bird shit runs out, times are hard. In a last desperate attempt to make some money they put their last £2 million into a London west end musical, Leonardo. it fails after review night. they are now destitute.
