Clare's Lair

Friday, May 31, 2002

crime watching
week 49: june 1st - 7th
Written for Payback by Clare-Marie White.
NB Schedules may be subject to change so it's worth checking a daily paper or www.radiotimes.com for up-to-date listings.

television programmes
classics, "Must See TV"
None this week

programmes worth watching out for, which don't make it to MSTV status
None this week

criminal justice programmes
Saturday June 1st, 19.20, BBC2 Omnibus: Murder in the Forest
Writer Edna O' Brian looks at the true story behind her latest novel.
Producer: Nadia Haggar

Saturday June 1st, 22.55, C5 Murder Detectives

Sunday June 2nd, 23.15, C5 Hard Bastards
Director/Producer: Toni Williamson

Wednesday June 5th, 21.00, BBC1 Crimewatch UK
Contacts: Call 0500 600600 or e-mail cwuk@bbc.co.uk.
[updated at 22.35]

Thursday June 6th, 21.00, BBC2 The Hunt for Britain's
Paedophiles
A look at the work of Scotland Yard's Paedophile Unit. Many of the producers of this programme, made over two years, had to have counseling and while those who have seen this were admiring of it, it's not one to watch if you're feeling sensitive. It contains footage of child abuse and interviews with victims.
Producer: Bob Long

Thursday June 6th, 13.30, C5 Oprah
Oprah talks to the husband of Andrea Yates, serving a life sentence for the murder of their five children.

Friday June 7th, 23.30, ITV London's Scariest Mysteries

social issues documentaries
Tuesday June 4th, 21.00, C4 Cutting Edge
Inside a Hull comprehensive where the children run riot for the benefit of the cameras.
Producer: Monica Garney

real life documentaries/'docusoaps'.
Wednesday June 5th, 00.20, C4 Tourist Police

crime dramas/serials
Saturday June 1st, 09.45, BBC1 Perry Mason

Saturday June 1st, 11.15, BBC1 Quincy

Saturday June 1st, 21.00, C5 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
[Repeated Monday 3rd, 23.15]
Related website: www.cbs.com/primetime/csi

Saturday June 1st, 21.55, C5 Law and Order
Parole issues with a serial rapist.
[Repeated Sunday 2nd, 23.50]
Related website: www.studiosusa.com/laworder

Sunday June 2nd, 20.00, ITV Where the Heart is
Karen is attacked.
Director: Clive Arnold

Sunday June 2nd, 21.00, ITV Agatha Christie's Poirot
Stars David Suchet
Director: Tom Clegg Producer: Brian Eastman

Sunday June 2nd, 19.10, C5 Martial Law

Weekdays, 11.00, C5 TJ Hooker

Weekdays (except Monday), 14.20, and Wednesday June 5th, 23.05, C4 Ally McBeal

Tuesday June 4th, 23.10, C4 Oz

Wednesday June 5th, 14.10, BBC1 Diagnosis Murder

Wednesday June 5th, 21.00, BBC2 Murder
Director: Beeban Kidron Producer: Rebecca de Souza

Thursday June 6th, 20.00, ITV The Bill
Director: Michael Ferguson Producer: Tom Cotter
Related website: www.thebill.com

Thursday June 6th, 21.00, ITV Bad Girls
Director: Diana Patrick Producer: Claire Phillips
Related website: www.badgirls.co.uk - with factsheets from the CCJS.

Other programmes of interest
None this week.

clare's personal choice of the week
Monday June 3rd, 19.30, BBC1 Party at the Palace
This week is all jubilee, football and Big Brother - nothing else, except that the programme makers seem to have come over all patriotic and there's an awful lot on the army too. So at least the Jubilee, as well as giving us all a holiday, includes a show that caters for all tastes; with a line-up that includes everyone from S Club 7 to Brian Wilson. So stop fighting over the remote control, sit the family down and enjoy the celebration of 50 years of pop music.
Director: Geoff Posner

criminal justice story lines in the main soaps during june
Little Mo is suffering in jail in Eastenders, and the community try to have Janine thrown out. In Coronation Street Richard does a Brookie and buries his ex-spouse under the patio. But how long will it take for the police to come knocking?

Related websites:
www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders
www.corrie.net
www.brookside.com
www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers

radio programmes
must hear radio
None this week.

criminal justice programmes
Tuesday June 4th, 09.00 and 21.30, Radio 4 Unreliable Evidence
Clive Anderson discusses Lord Justice Auld's review of the criminal justice system with Lord Justice Judge and Peter Neyroud of the Thames Valley Police force.
Producers: Bruce Hyman and Barbara Loftus

social issues documentaries
None this week

crime dramas/serials
Wednesday June 6th, 23.00, Radio 4 La Crème de la Crime
Director: Adam Bromley

Friday June 7th, 14.15, Radio 4 Afternoon Play: McLevy
Director: Patrick Raynor

Friday June 7th, 21.00, Radio 4 The Friday Play: The Calling
A murderer is on the loose.
Director: Stephen Wright


other programmes of interest
Friday June 7th, 16.30, Radio 4 The Message
Jenni Murray and guests engage in conversation about current media trends.
Producer: Cecile Wright
Related website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/themessage.

crime writing in the TV guides
There is an interesting article in the Radio Times debating the decision to screen footage of child abuse in The Hunt for Britain's Paedophiles.

daily listings
NB As schedules may be subject to change, it's worth checking a daily paper or www.radiotimes.com for up-to-date listings.

saturday june 1st
09.45 BBC1 Perry Mason
11.15 BBC1 Quincy
19.20 BBC2 Omnibus
21.00 C5 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
21.55 C5 Law and Order
22.55 C5 Murder Detectives

sunday june 2nd
19.10 C5 Martial Law
20.00 ITV Where the Heart Is
21.00 ITV Agatha Christie's Poirot
23.15 C5 Hard Bastards
23.50 C5 Law and Order

monday june 3rd - jubilee holiday!
11.00 C5 TJ Hooker
19.30 BBC1 Party at the Palace
23.15 C5 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

tuesday june 4th - another jubilee holiday!!
09.00 BBCR4 Unreliable Evidence
11.00 C5 TJ Hooker
14.20 C4 Ally McBeal
21.30 BBCR4 Unreliable Evidence ®
21.00 C4 Cutting Edge
23.10 C4 Oz

wednesday june 5th
00.20 C4 Tourist Police
11.00 C5 TJ Hooker
14.10 BBC1 Diagnosis Murder
14.20 C4 Ally McBeal
21.00 BBC1 Crimewatch UK
21.00 BBC2 Murder
22.35 BBC1 Crimewatch UK Update
23.00 BBCR4 Crème de la Crime
23.05 C4 Ally McBeal

thursday june 6th
11.00 C5 TJ Hooker
13.30 C5 Oprah
14.20 C4 Ally McBeal
20.00 ITV The Bill
21.00 ITV Bad Girls
21.00 BBC2 The Hunt for Britain's
Paedophiles

friday june 7th
11.00 C5 TJ Hooker
14.15 BBCR4 McLevy
14.20 C4 Ally McBeal
16.30 BBCR4 The Message
21.00 BBCR4 The Calling
23.30 ITV London's Scariest Mysteries



Posted by Clare at 4:49 PM [+]
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WRITERS WANTED!

Writers needed for student lifestyle website - SLG

Should preferably be UK students, but interesting feature ideas from anyone welcomed. No money, but a chance to expose yourself to a wide and lovely audience!

Write to Clare for more info.


Now, where else can I post this?
Posted by Clare at 9:15 PM [+]
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Below is a draft article; might polish it up and offer it to someone.. but it's too tiring now :(

Comments welcome!
Posted by Clare at 8:46 PM [+]
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The current system of student funding is unequal, and it will remain unequal while the biggest burden of debt is placed on the shoulders of the poorest. The Select Committee for Student Funding called for a system that was simple. The simplest, and most equitable, solution is Graduate Tax.

The graduate tax would be payable by all those with above average earnings for the rest of their working life, as a payback for the privilege of higher education.

In one possible system, all universities would submit a figure for living based on average rents and living costs for their vicinity. Upon receiving an offer for university, a prospective student would be entitled to receive this amount. They would be expected to be responsible for this amount of money and if they wished to top it up with further loans, credit cards or jobs this would be their choice. This would dispense with the need for hardship loans – only a tiny proportion of students actually in hardship ever get much further than balking at the complex, embarrassing and unreliable process: it is quicker and easier to apply for a credit card.

There would be no means tested element to student funding, for fees or living expenses. Why should there be? Parents are not expected to subsidise their eighteen year old child in jail or their twenty-two year old on the dole. The idea that rich parents should pay for Higher Education is a middle class assumption based on the idea that most students are rich: if the student population was truly equal there would be few fee payers anyway. Apart from this, the costs involved in recouping fees are vast – this system would dispense with the whole process of collecting fees from students or LEAs. It should not be up to the state to make generalized assumptions about a parent’s ability or desire to contribute to their child’s education; these assumptions have very frequently been proved wrong in the last three years.

So all students would be on a level playing field throughout their degree. Because we can no longer simply get a degree to be employable, we have to get experience. And John who has to work in a factory to make ends meet will not have the same opportunities in his chosen field after he graduates than Petunia whose father can get her an unpaid job in PR for the summer. While Margaret Hodge ‘sees nothing wrong’ with students working part time during their degrees, class divisions will perpetuate unless people are allowed to do their degrees in the same way.

And after the degree there will be no burden of debt. This once more gives everyone the same choice, because currently a student living at home and going to the University of Keele will have vastly less debt than a student who goes to London for their Higher Education. This is likely to limit many people’s choices, because society still puts people under pressure to be under as little debt as possible, unless it is for a mortgage. The payback will be through graduate tax, which will raise more funds than simply paying for one’s own tuition and survival. Money can be borrowed by the government, as outlined in the Barr plan, but will be paid by the graduate tax-paying population as a whole rather than the individual. Because once again, it will be those from lower income families who will borrow more and be paying back their debt for longer. Debt does put people off. Try giving your average sixteen year old the choice between a £30,000 debt or a tax once they are earning and see which makes them more likely to want to train to be a doctor.

People are always banging on to us about the investment we are making when we choose to go to university. Which is true. But what about what we give back? Apart from what universities and students contribute to the wealth, technology and workforce of the country, graduates are far less likely to drain the state in almost every way: look into jails, hospitals and dole offices and you will not find them full of graduates. Despite this we put more into the treasury’s kitty than most groups because, as we are occasionally told, we will earn more.

So why should we suffer as graduates? Why should the state be so very keen to put us at the bottom of the priority list. Gordon Brown spent much of the last budget speech outlining rights for minimum incomes for most groups, but students were not even mentioned. We don’t deserve any help at all because, as we have been told on various occasions by our own Minister, we will spend it all on beer. The state should be prepared to invest in us now, because we will pay it back. Call it a loan, call it graduate tax, I don’t care. Just don’t keep perpetuating the inequalities in society through this bizarre and complex system that only benefits the very richest.

One more point should be addressed. 50% of students should not go to university just for the sake of it. At the moment there are universities making a lucrative business out of stuffing their courses, oversubscribing them, because they get more money per head for each student they take from a lower income postcode. Many students do not see the extra support that this is supposed to be for. The many students that drop out because of poverty dilute those who drop out because they are on a worthless or badly taught degree. The system outlined above would eliminate drop-out rates because of hardship (because, believe it or not, we are intelligent, and thus largely capable of managing a reasonable amount of money without newting it away on beer) and would focus attention on poor colleges. Universities would then be penalized for drop out students and because college’s income would come from graduate tax they would be more obliged to meet the needs of students and ensure that they stay on. With greater funding universities could expand properly and provide quality education for 50%. At the moment many colleges are more like cattle markets and it simply isn’t fair because these are the same colleges that are presented as the main options to those from non-traditional backgrounds.

Everybody who wants it should be entitled to quality higher education and having had it they should be obliged to pay once they benefit from it. This is an equal system that benefits everyone, including the state.

Finally a plea. Recognise the problems of student funding without dismissing it as ‘anecdotal’ or a lark at the tax payers’ expense. Student hardship is very real and you only need to do simple sums to see why. We are not getting enough money to survive on. If a minister gets £118,000 and over 25s are considered poverty stricken if they earn less than £11,000, why are students expected to survive on between £2000 and £5000? Obviously, we cannot. Don’t let this experiment carry on any longer and stop treating students like worthless mutes. Otherwise we students might do something really scary at the next election. We might all go out and vote, and then where will you be, Mrs Hodge?

Posted by Clare at 8:44 PM [+]
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Publishing temporarily unavailable - upgrade to Blogger Pro

I can't afford to blog...
Posted by Clare at 8:43 PM [+]
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Cat's allergy intolerance



From The Daily Mail (eurgh), today, and a very sad double page spread advertising unwanted animals. But this bit is funny:

"Lucky, eight... she was tormented by her owner's other cats because she had a food allergy"

How did they know?


Posted by Clare at 8:37 PM [+]
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BYERS RESIGNED!!
Posted by Clare at 10:16 AM [+]
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Review
Town Without Pity
by Don Hale

Town Without Pity is a gripping book charting the six year campaign by Don Hale to overturn Britain’s worst miscarriage of justice case: that of Stephen Downing, jailed for 27 years for the murder of Wendy Sewell.

I first read about Stephen Downing in a magazine feature, perhaps three years ago. I distinctly remember the sadness I felt at this story of a young, naïve boy who was taken from the life he knew in Derbyshire into incarceration for a time that would eclipse his lifetime outside. I remember hoping against hope that the case would be resolved, but feeling depressingly pessimistic. By January 2002 I had become so drawn into this story that I went along to the court to see the murder verdict of 1973 overturned. And as hundreds of others had done, I was able to meet newspaper editor Don Hale and express to him my admiration for the bravery and commitment that he had shown in the dangerous and long-winded pursuit of justice.

This book goes through the whole tale, from the day when Stephen’s parents – who are huge heroes in this story – came to see Don in the hope that he might help free their son to that final day in the Court of Appeal.

If at times the narrative becomes a little like a detective story of the thirties, the details are meticulous and the story fascinating. Chillingly, the most likely murderers are still at large in Derbyshire and it is revealed that they may be linked to other murders, details with they were prepared to go to violent lengths to keep quiet.

At the centre of the story is Stephen Downing himself, and the tragedy of the years he has lost is only slightly tempered by his own gentle temperament and willingness to get on with his life. Many of the letters he wrote are printed in the book and one is left with a hope that his dreams and ambitions can still be fulfilled.

The most staggering element of the book is the sheer length of time that is covers. The pieces of the case seem to be together almost immediately, and indeed anyone could see that the conviction was questionable in 1973. But the mechanics of the state to block any evidence that it might have come to the wrong decision constantly hindered attempts to free Stephen. Another miscarriage of justice victim, Paddy Hill, frequently paraphrases the words of a QC involved in his case: “It is better that an innocent person stays in jail than the courts be brought into disrepute”. Nobody could read Town Without Pity without coming to damning conclusions about the state’s horrific tendency to treat people as insignificant parts of a machine when it suits them.

But the book ends with victory and Don quite rightly expresses his pride in what he achieved. Very few journalists have the patience to see a story through way beyond normal deadlines. The happy conclusion of this story was the result of years of work and Don has my admiration, as well as that of every journalist or aspiring journalist.

So should you buy this book? Certainly. It is one of the most exciting true stories you will read and will certainly leave you happy, sad, angry and inspired. Congratulations, Don!


Posted by Clare at 10:12 AM [+]
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Phew.. enough anger for one evening.

Time now to write to my lovely Hollywood friend Rachel Who Never Writes, but Who Did.

Yay. :)
Posted by Clare at 8:11 PM [+]
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STOP IT Dreamweaver, stop it.

Hateful, slow, crappy programme.


Posted by Clare at 8:09 PM [+]
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Ick ick

Too many rightwingers updating their sites at the moment. You along thinking they're perfectly normal or sometimes just with a perverse curiosity cos it's only the rightwingers who self-identify quite so much in their titles, as if it's something to be proud of, and they're all the same.

Ick ick.



Posted by Clare at 8:08 PM [+]
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