I was off sick yesterday. So I watched a lot of day time television. And on BBC1, one promo punctuated the programmes more than any other: Panorama: The Alan Johnston Story (9pm, BBC1).
If ever a documentary warranted an hour of prime-time television, it is this one. The Gaza correspondent for the BBC has been remarkably quiet since his release from capture 114 days after beind kidnapped by militant jihadists in Gaza.
He hasn't dashed around the TV studios and day-time TV sofas telling us his story, he hasn't sold out for a massive fee to one of the national newspapers, in fact, he's been very dignified about it all.
And tonight is no exception. Presenter Jeremy Vine does the interviewing (note to Nicky Campbell: He's an example of someone who can do TV and radio and still be likeable) and Alan describes his experience as an 'education in the dark side of human experience.' It's the surreal elements which appear to stick in his mind, such as the militants calling themselves 'The Sopranos of Gaza' and the irony in that he has was kidnapped just 16 days before the end of a three-year posting in the region isn't lost either.
If you only watch one documentary this year, make sure it is this one...
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