Anything But Chardonnay

‘THANKS to Mirror journalist Ryan Parry, we now know a lot more about the Queen’s viewing habits than is healthy for the future of the monarchy.

‘Archbishop! You should be ashamed of yourself’

Now, we know rather more than we needed to about what is on the agenda when Dr Rowan Williams, aka the Archbishop of Canterbury, settles down for a quiet night in.

Previously, the Archbishop has spoken in praise of The Simpsons; and only recently he extolled the books of Philip Pullman.

But Wednesday night in Lambeth Palace is, it seems, Footballers’ Wives night.

But just as Dr Williams likes to engage intellectually with Pullman’s atheism, so it seems he watches the adventures of Earl’s Park’s finest only to criticise.

In his Easter message to his diocese, he called on Christians to look beyond a world enslaves by rivalry, fear and self-seeking.

‘It is what you see on Footballers’ Wives,’ he said. ‘A world in which charity and fairness, generosity, a sense of perspective about yourself are all swept aside.’

Upset though he clearly is about Frank’s death (shagged to death, in case you didn’t know, by gold-digging wife Tanya), Dr Williams’s remarks haven’t pleased everyone.

The show’s executive producer, Brian Park, said the Archbishop had failed to understand the morality of the show.

‘We’re offering a portal to a world of untold wealth and riches,’ he said, ‘but we show that it comes at a price, that it doesn’t buy happiness.’

And the Telegraph is another to criticise the Archbishop’s comments, suggesting that it means either that he watches the show or that he is talking about something he has never seen.

‘On balance, we prefer the first option,’ it says. ‘Bad taste is no sin, but fibbing ought really to be off limits to clergymen.”

Posted: 29th, March 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink