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I do love a nice bit of Daily Mail outrage. And this one is too good to miss. They've got all over-excited about Monday's episode of Spooks which featured a group of christian extremists who were killing muslims. Given the number of episodes where MI5 have been foiling Muslim plots, this one seemed to be an attempt to redress the balance slightly. But the Mail, of course, don't see it that way. They see it as an obvious case of the BBC's anti-christian bias.

The BBC are facing accusations of anti-Christian bias after a BBC drama portrayed evangelical extremists murdering Muslims.

One Christian group said the corporation had a "sinister" and "malicious" agenda against their faith, while another claimed the BBC1 Spooks programme could be an "incitement to hatred" against them.

Oh, and look, they've even got a quote from a frothing at the mouth Stephen Green.

Christian Voice National Director Stephen Green said: "This could even be incitement to hatred against Christians. It is completely ludicrous and brings the BBC into more disrepute."

"Most people watching it will just spot another bit of BBC bias and inaccuracy - nevertheless it shows a worrying mind-set in the people that are producing the programme to even think that there are Christians contemplating violence against any Muslims whatsoever - it is just not what we do."

I predict that the readers' comments on this story will be well worth watching over the next few hours.

Update: Also covered on MediaWatchWatch.

So it seems that currently, Sunday's post about the Doomsday Code documentary is the top Google hit for "Doomsday Code". Which is all very gratifying, but it does mean I'm attracting the nutters.

Firstly I got an email from Niels last night assuring me that I'm completely wrong and that we are currently living in the endtimes. As proof, he suggested that I take a close look at the ZetaTalk web site which will apparently explain it all clearly. Open-minded as ever I brought up the web site, only to see a picture of a Grey alien on the front page. So what we have here is a web site agreeing with the endtimers' interpretation of Revelations, but claiming that it's all an alien plot. For those who (like me) can't bear to read sites like this, Wikipedia has a good summary of Zetatalk's main ideas.

And then today I find a comment from Phil explaining that he's angry about the documentary because it did nothing to explore the creationist point of view. Actually, the documentary did make it clear that the end-time ministers were pretty much creationists to a man - which, of course, just emphasises the fact that they are all as mad as hatters.

It's all very amusing. But also incredibly sad.

Last night we watched Channel 4's documentary, The Doomsday Code - which was one of the most worrying television programmes that I've seen for a long time.

The programme was about the groups of christian fundamentalists who believe that we are now living in the end time predicted by the Book of Revelation and who are conducting their lives as though they expect the Rapture to take place at any moment.

This is all very well. They are, of course, free to believe any ridiculous nonsense that they choose to believe. It's nice that they have a hobby and it gives the rest of us someone to laugh at. But in this documentary Tony Robinson demonstrated that it's a little more serious than that. End-time believers are in very powerful positions in the US and their actions can effect us all. Some examples:

• As the Book of Revelation clearly mentions Israel as a nation, Endtimers are strong supporters of the Zionists and will fight anything that they see as a attack on the Israeli state. This is clearly a big problem when trying to address the problems in the middle east. Some go further and believe that an all-out war in the Middle East can only hasten the arrival of the Rapture.
• If the End-time is just around the corner, why would you care about any detrimental effect you are having on the enviroment? You're not going to be around to deal with the problems, so leave it to the unbelievers to deal with it. it'll just add to the problems of the Tribulation - which has to be a good thing, right?
• The Book of Revelations also mentions that at the End-times the word of god will be preached to all countries. So missionaries are out all over the world trying to make this prophecy come true. The documentary picked on the example of Uganda, where End-time preaching is so endemic that large parts of the population seem to have almost given up the will to live as all they have to do is to be true to god in order to be ensured of a place in heaven when the Rapture comes.

It's a nasty, pernicious belief and, of course, it's all based on a misinterpretation of what the Book of Revelation is trying to say. There's no evidence that it was written by Saint John and it's far more likely to be a criticism of the Roman Empire than a book of prophecy ("666", for example, is just an encoded way of refering to Nero).

So what we have here is a powerful sub-sect in the christian church who are wilfully misinterpreting the bible in order to support their owen warped view of the world. As I said above, this would just be amusing if it wasn't for the fact that some of the most important people in the US either hold these views or are influenced by people who hold these views. It seems a bit trivial arguing whether or not Islam is a peaceful religion when christians are busy cheering on the end of the world - and some of them are doing what they can to hasten its arrival.

Update: If you didn't see it, it's repeated late tonight (Monday 18th September) - 1:30 tomorrow morning on Channel 4. Set your video.

One of the things that I haven 't been too keen on in the new version of Doctor Who is the "soap opera" approach where we got to see altogether far too much about Rose Tyler's mother, boyfriend and (dead) father. When they all got trapped in an paralled universe at the end of the last season I was very happy and I started to hope that the new assistant would come with less baggage.

So I'm a bit disappointed to read this story from the BBC.

Former Top Of The Pops presenter Reggie Yates will play a leading role in the new series of Doctor Who.

BBC Radio 1 DJ Yates, 23, will star as the brother of the Time Lord's new assistant, medical student Martha Jones - played by Freema Agyeman.

Other new faces in the series include Trevor Laird, who plays Martha's father, and Adjoa Andoh, as her mother.

I'm not as bothered by spoilers as many people that I know. I don't turn over quickly to avoid the "coming next week" clips at the end of TV programmes.

But I do think that the Doctor Who spoilers that have been all over my usual newsfeeds this morning are taking things a bit too far. I really didn't need to know what happens at the end of this season in as much detail as I now do.

Now I'm all grumpy.

Just catching up with some American TV shows that we recorded last weekend and stumbled across some seredipitous scheduling by Channel 4.

At 8pm last Sunday on E4, in ER a doctor called Debbie (Mary McCormack) was working at an IDP camp in Darfur with John Carter. At 9pm over on More 4[1] in the West Wing had Kate Harper (also played by Mary McCormack) telling CJ just how bad conditions were at IDP camps in Darfur.

[1] Actually More4+1 as Channel 4 are stupid enough to schedule the two shows against each other.

A nice reminder of how TV likes to slightly distort the truth.

As you're watching the final of The Apprentice tonight, ask yourself where the boardroom where people are fired is actually located.

The establishing shots are all of Canary Wharf, so you're obviously supposed to think that's where it is. But when the person who has been fired is shown leaving the building and getting into a taxi, that's filmed at Amstrad's headquarters, Brentwood House, which is in Brentwood.

But that's not the end of the deception. Apparently those shots were all filmed on the same day at the start of the series. The actual boardroom is in a film studio somewhere in West London.

Oh, and Alan Sugar is played by an actor.

I made that last bit up.

Update: I've just seen this on the BBC web site

The final face-off between 26-year-old Michelle Dewberry, a former checkout girl turned telecoms consultant, and 27-year-old sales manager Ruth Badger is expected to bring the series to a heated climax.

But the recent revelation in The Times that both women have been working for Sir Alan since September has seen the show criticised for its lack of realism.

The newspaper reported that their performances will be taken into account when Sir Alan makes his ultimate choice.

"His final decision is not based on the programme that people see," says Saira Khan [the woman who was runner-up last year].

"His final decision is based on [the fact that] these two people have been working with him for the six months."

Bah. Next they'll be telling me that Doctor Who isn't real.

The Doctor Who publicity machine is really firing up now. There's a preview in the new Radio Times and a surprisingly long piece in today's Guardian.

The corporation is planning a marketing blitz as it seeks to create a buzz around next month's launch of the second series of the family drama since it was successfully revived last year.

It's still "next month's launch" though. No confirmation of the (assumed) 15th April start date[1].

As someone who has (admittedly vague) memories of watching the first Jon Pertwee episode of Doctor Who in 1970 it's all a bit strange seeing the BBC putting so much effort into the marketing. With a couple of exceptions for the tenth and twentieth anniversaries in 1973 and 1983 the BBC never really did much to promote the original series. But suddenly it's the flavour of the month and the marketing is everywhere. If you haven't seen any of it yet, then it's going to be hard to ignore over the next two weeks.

[1] Apparently this is confirmed in the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine as mentioned in this usenet discussion. However a story on the BBC site today still claims "an exact start date has yet to be confirmed in April for the second series."

It looks like the new series of Doctor Who is getting closer, with a number of repeats looming on both BBC Three and UKTV Gold. BBC Three is showing all of The Green Death two episodes a night from Monday 3rd April. Once that has finished, they're showing last year's series starting on Thursday 6th April (again, two episodes a night). UKTV Gold is showing the whole of last year's series over the weekend of Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th of April. Finally, on Sunday 9th April, BBC Three have a three hour "Doctor Who Night".

So I reckon that's all pointing to the new series starting on Easter Saturday (15th April). I'm looking forward to it.

Someone posted to Digg a link to this story on the BBC about the excuses that people give for being caught without a TV licence. This lead to a huge discussion along the lines of "d00d, they pay for TV over there - that's teh suck!".

A few brave souls have tried to explain the BBC's funding arrangements and how the licence fee is a small price to pay given the generally high quality of BBC programmes and the fact that we get to watch them without adverts. but this has largely fallen on deaf ears. I think my favourite comment was the one that said:

So if british TV has no commercials, when do people go to the bathroom, and get snacks while watching TV?