The Road to Nowhere

The brief spat between the LSE and the BBC over ethics should not detract from John Sweeney's secret-camera footage of North Korea on 'Panorama' (BBC1). Sweeney was accompanied limpet-style by his official North Korean guides - North Korea is a nightmare of a failed political entity, where famine is endemic and forced labour camps punish dissidents and non-dissident alike. It is also a country where electricity is a luxury, a fucked up, Star Trek anti-utopia of a polity, where the Kims rule like Gods and their people are fed an Orwellian diet of News Speak. It is, in short, Hell on Earth. While those with even a passing familiarity with the nature of the regime will have learnt nothing new, the footage will have been a welcome addition to the knowledge of those not au fait with what goes on in this closed state. Sweeney was brought to Hospital where there were no patients and some of us were hoping for a 'Scientology' type explosion from him, but the circumstances were just too pathetic for that. His trip to a Library allowed him to ask the immortal question as to whether they had '1984' in stock, and of course, they didn't. It would also be funny if it just weren't so tragic. 'Panorama' is hitting the mark again; it could do with being 45 minutes or an hour long but still can be a must-see.