Blog: johnloguk

BBC TV - MOUNTAIN (and some not so good outdoor TV programmes)

Did anyone else watch the new series on BBC 1 last night simply called "Mountain"? I thought it was excellent, fronted by Gryff Rhys Jones, who admitted to not really being interested in mountains before he made the programme. His cheery good humour and wry observations set the mood, but the mountains themselves were the stars. As usual the aerial photography was exceptional. We also had geology, social history and lessons in speaking Gaelic!

The first programme concentrated on the NW of Scotland, from the far north-west of Sutherland to the Isle of Skye. He even spent a night at the Sligachan Hotel that featured in a previous blog. His snowy ascent of Ben Hope, with Cameron McNeish as guide, showed the mixture of stunning views, white out conditions and elation that accompanies a typical Scottish winter day. Then his trip to climb the small but beautifully formed Suilven enabled him to spend a night in a mountain bothy. These open shelters are maintained for the benefit of hillwalkers and climbers (and deer stalkers in the season), and are a Godsend in the more remote parts of the country.

Although the programme briefly described the phenomonon of Munro Bagging, the lifelong quest to climb every mountain in Scotland over 3000' high, Suilven is the perfect example of what you miss if you ignore anything lower!

The final part of the programme was on Skye, and included the ascent of Bruach na Frithe, the easiest Black Cuillin peak. I could watch an entire programme just about the Cuillin, as you may have guessed from previous blogs, but hopefully last night would have tempted a few new people to head that way for the first time.

In contrast to this excellent new series on the Beeb, I was incensed by the Top Gear Race to the North Pole show from last week. Apart from having qualms about men driving huge 4X4s into pristine arctic landscape, I was stunned at the level of dishonesty in the programme. For a start they went to the magnetic north pole not the geographic one, which is considerably easier to reach, and they didn't mention the difference between the two (unless I missed something). There was also considerably more logistical support for the Clarkson and May vehicle than they showed in the programme.

I'm not a big fan of the Clarkson view of life, or the one that he has made a good living promoting anyway, but this programme hit a new low. The test for me would be to ask a sample of viewers what they thought they had watched. I bet they would say that they saw 2 untrained guys drive a 4X4 to the North Pole, beating a dog team in the process and proving how technology, and cars specifically, can take you anywhere. What they actually saw was something quite different, or am I spouting nonsense?

It is similar to a Ben Fogle programme recently that purported to show total beginners dog sledding to within 80 miles of the north pole. In fact they were on Spitzbergen, which is nearer to 800 miles from the pole, and has permanent habitation there. Although I believe that the north of Spitzbergen is actually further north than the magnetic north pole so they did better than Clarkson!

Programmes like this have to be honest, like Mountain, not manufacture and over hype the danger and achievement. I'd be interested to know what the relevant viewing figures were for these shows.

by johnloguk on 14:07 on 30th July 2007