Sorted Magazine

Category: Featured

  • That old chestnut? Take the conker quiz!

    Take the Conker Quiz! Are these statements true or false?

    1. Pig poo is the best place to find your winning conker.

    True: The great conker player, Charlie Bray, used to swear he had hardened his conkers by passing them through the belly of a pig. They were pickled in the pig’s stomach juices before popping out the other end. Cunning conkerers know that the toughest nut wins!

    2: Kids must wear goggles to play conkers.

    False: In September 2007 the Health and Safety Executive stated: “This is one of the oldest chestnuts around, a truly classic myth. A well-meaning head teacher decided children should wear safety goggles to play conkers. Subsequently some schools appear to have banned conkers on ‘health & safety’ grounds or made children wear goggles, or even padded gloves! Realistically the risk from playing conkers is incredibly low and just not worth bothering about. If kids deliberately hit each other over the head with conkers, that’s a discipline issue, not health and safety.”

    3: If you can’t find a shoelace and a conker, a crane and a caravan are perfectly reasonable alternatives.

    True: In 2008 BBC2 Top Gear presenters Richard Hammond and James Mays staged a mild ‘elf and safety gorn maad’ type of protest. They played a massive game of conkers using cranes and swinging caravans wearing, you guessed it, goggles. The Youtube video, Caravan Conkers, has generated 3.2M views.

    4: Sir Michael Palin is a conker champion.

    False: The English actor, writer and television presenter of Monty Python fame, was disqualified from the 1993 Isle of Wight Conker Championships for baking his conker and soaking it in vinegar. The first recorded game of conkers is believed to have taken place in the Isle of Wight in 1848.

    5: Eleven and three quarters is the ideal age to play conkers.

    False: This myth is linked to school boy conker hero, William Brown, of ‘Just William’ fame. In 2017 85-year-old Chelsea Pensioner, John Riley, proved that playing conkers can be enjoyed at any age when he utterly thrashed the competition and won the Men’s World Championship.

    6: ‘Conker’ is the name of a red squirrel with a cult following.

    True: ‘Conker’ starred in the graphic adult oriented 2001 Nintendo 64 computer game ‘Conker’s Bad Fur Day’.

    7: In 1803 the poet, Lord, Byron, was waiting for his betrothed in the church yard when he was inspired by an enormous conker lying among the autumn leaves. He penned the poem below, which later became a personal favourite of his friend the Earl of Bridgewater. The young Earl had the words engraved into an elaborate stone tablet located among the Horse Chestnut trees just inside the main gates of his Estate.

    “Under the chestnut tree, there waits for me, a sight so marv’llous to behold

    Amidst the Autumn leaves it gleams at me, a conker beautiful and bold.”

    False: Totally false, I made it up, but you were almost ready to believe me, right? These are the lyrics of a children’s song written by Mark and Helen Johnson, published and produced by Out of the Ark Music for Primary School Harvest and Autumn Assemblies.

    8: To go first at Conkers you must bow, then take off your hat, balance on one leg and shout out: “Hail the Chestnut Tree! Grant me victory!”

    False: Absolutely false, but I had a lot fun making this one up too! Regional rules and verbal declarations vary but the traditional (not World Championship) rules state that “a conker is more likely to survive if it is the striker not the stricken. Secure the first strike by calling out “first” or other traditional terms such as “hobily, hobily nonker, my first conker!”

    9: Anglers launched the World Conker Championship.

    True: The World Conker Championships began in Ashton in 1965 when a group of villagers unable to go on an organised fishing trip decided to play conkers instead.

    10: The location of some conker trees is a closely guarded secret.

    True: To keep the competition as fair as possible, the Ashton Conker Club (World Conker Championship organisers) collect over 1,000 conkers from horse chestnut trees in the village and from secret locations. During years when local supplies are low they import conkers from elsewhere.

    11: No one cheats when playing Conkers.

    False: In friendly competitions getting away with cheating appears to be an integral part of the fun! Artificial hardening techniques are even passed down through the generations. Famous cheats include: Stuffing your conker up the chimney to dry it out, baking it in an oven, leaving it on a radiator or in a pocket. Other traditional cheats include pickling in bat urine, vinegar, salt water, soda or paraffin, painting with varnish, injecting with superglue, filler or resin or leaving in the dark for a year. The Ashton Conker Club (World Conker Championship organisers) supplies all conkers for the World Championships in order to rule out any cheating!

    Photo Credits: All photos courtesy of Geoff Sutcliffe, Ashton Conker Club and the World Conker Championships.

  • How to play conkers!

    Why go bonkers for conkers? What’s it all about? A conker is the fruit of the Horse Chestnut Tree. It’s a glossy brown nut about the size of a small tomato. The conker develops in a prickly case, ripens in September and October and falls to the ground. Conkers is a traditional game involving knuckles and nuts; the conker is threaded onto a shoe lace and swung hard, with the aim of thwacking and smashing your opponent’s conker. For generations it’s been a sound which quickens the heart of the young, and the young at heart.

    How to play conkers

    Ditch the comfy chairs, touch screens, buttons, controllers and fantasy worlds. Exit the super safe, centrally heated, untouchable, two dimensional, temperate world of gaming and virtual reality. The night’s may be drawing in but it’s time to kick off your slippers, slide off the sofa, log off the laptop, go out on a limb and experience the risky cut and thrust of actual reality. It’s elementree. All you need is a shoelace and a few nuts. You also need conkers. Cast iron knuckles and nerves of steel are optional. May the forest be with you.

    In a nutshell: The traditional (not World Championship) rules (courtesy of Ashton Conker Club at worldconkerchampionships.com).

    • Make a hole with a drill or a skewer exactly through the middle of the conker (adults only, and even then, take care!)

    • Use a strong piece of string or boot lace long enough to be wound twice round the hand with at least eight inches length after tightly knotting at the bottom.

    • A conker is more likely to survive if it is the striker not the stricken. Secure first strike by calling out ‘first’ or other traditional terms such as ‘my firsy’, ‘firsy jabs’, ‘first swipe, ‘first donks’, ‘first hitsy’, ‘bagise first cracks, ‘iddley, iddley, ack, my first smack’ or ‘hobily, hobily honker, my first conker’.

    • The other contestant holds his conker still, at whatever height best suits his opponent, while he attempts to strike it using a swinging downward movement.

    • If he hits it the other player has his turn. If he misses he may be allowed two more tries, If the strings tangle whoever is the first to shout ‘strings’, ‘clinks’, ‘clinch’, ‘plugs’, ‘tangles’ or ‘twitters’ has an extra shot. Some play for strings to get extra shots but it is considered bad form!

    • The victorious conker adds to its score all the winnings of the other conker plus one so a ‘tenner’ which beats a ‘fiver’ becomes a ‘sixteener’.

    This Autumn thousands of ‘conkerers’ invaded the English village of Southwick to experience the World Conker Championships. Conker enthusiasts from across the globe competed in the event, which has so far raised £420,000 for charities which support the visually impaired.

    For more information about playing conkers visit World Conker Championships

    Photo Credits: All photos courtesy of Geoff Sutcliffe, Ashton Conker Club and the World Conker Championships.

  • Motoring: Citroen eC4 Sense Review

    The eC4 is a crossover that combines a coupe’s sleek lines with a hatchback’s practicality and adds a dash of Citroen’s trademark quirkiness.

    But is it any good to drive, and does it make sense as an electric car? Let’s find out.

    The eC4 is powered by a single electric motor that produces 136PS and 300Nm of torque, which propels the front wheels through a single-speed automatic gearbox.

    Its battery has a capacity of 50kWh, which gives the car a claimed range of 219 miles, while charging the battery from 0 to 100% takes around 7.5 hours on a 7.4kW home wallbox or 30 minutes for a 0 to 80% top-up on a 100kW rapid charger.

    A burst of torque from the electric motor delivers instant acceleration, making the French vehicle feel nippy around town.

    There are three driving modes to choose from: Eco, Normal and Sport, with Eco limiting the power output and maximising the regenerative braking, which helps to extend the range. Normal mode balances performance and efficiency and Sport sharpens the throttle response and steering.

    The suspension system is one of the highlights of the eC4, as it features Citroen’s Progressive Hydraulic Cushions technology. This means that hydraulic bump stops at each end of the suspension travel absorb shocks and vibrations from uneven roads.

    The result is a very comfortable ride quality, especially on rough surfaces, making the eC4 feel smooth and refined.

    On the inside, the eC4 is spacious, with a minimalist dashboard and a digital instrument cluster, which looks stylish if a bit plasticky in places.

    There is plenty of headroom and legroom for front and rear passengers. The boot space is decent, too, offering 380 litres of room with the rear seats up and 1,250 litres folded down in a 60/40 split.

    The infotainment system is easy to use, with clear graphics and intuitive menus. The only downside is that some of the settings are buried in submenus, which can be distracting while driving.

    The eC4 is an economical car to run, as it has zero emissions and low running costs. Citroen says you should be able to do 219 miles on a full charge but, as with nearly all-electric cars, expect less than this in practice.

    However, the eC4 could be more engaging to drive, and it faces stiff competition from rivals such as the Hyundai Kona Electric, the Kia e-Niro and the Volkswagen ID.3.

    But, if you’re looking for an electric car that’s different from the rest, the eC4 is certainly worth a gander.

    Fast Facts – Citroen eC4 [Sense trim, 50kWh] as tested:

    • Max speed: 93mph
    • 0-62 mph: 10.0secs
    • Range: 219 miles
    • Motor layout: Single electric motor with front-wheel drive
    • Max. power (PS): 136
    • CO2: 0g/km
    • Price: £31,995

    All Photo Credits: Courtesy of Citroen eC4

  • Music: Graham Kendrick releases salvation songs

    Graham Kendrick has released his third new song of 2023, and this time it’s personal. In Salvation Songs, Graham recollects memories of his father as the young pastor of a small village Chapel.

    Graham recalls: “I remember it was not unusual for our living room to be crammed after the evening service. The upright piano that sat against the wall would be pulled into the middle of the room. Young and old would crowd around it and begin to call out songs they wanted to sing. Dad would flex his fingers, and then off he’d go, playing arpeggios up and down the keyboard in the popular style of the day, the room filling with voices and harmonies. It was joyful, it was heartfelt, it was fun, and all the songs were variations of one story, old but ever new; Salvation Songs.”

    After his father passed away, Graham wrote this song for him, and with his two brothers singing harmonies, they sang it at his Thanksgiving Service. The cover artwork is a photo of one of those evenings, and includes a young Graham and his family relishing the moment.

    Salvation Songs is now available on all major streaming platforms.

    Main Photo Credit: Courtesy of Make Way Music

  • Lifestyle: Enjoy a magical skating experience in London

    Skate West End is an elliptical ice rink which is set to transform Hanover Square in London. It will be open from November 4th until New Year’s Day.

    The Square will also be accessible to non-skaters. Hot festive drinks will be available from the central bar which will be situated beneath the trees. The partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Charity lies at the heart of this event, with a percentage from every ticket sold donated directly to the Charity to support seriously ill children at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). The money raised will help fund the hospital’s most urgent needs, such as research into paediatric brain tumours to support vital work which will help to put the brakes on this devastating childhood cancer. The target is to raise at least £55,000 for GOSH Charity. To find out more about GOSH Charity visit here.

    Dee Corsi, Chief Executive of the New West End Company, said: “For many Londoners and international visitors, a day out in the West End is what Christmas is all about; from the magic of the dazzling lights displays across the district, to the flagship stores and on-street entertainment, there is truly something for everyone this festive season. Just a stone’s throw from Oxford Street, in the newly completed Hanover Square, Skate West End will provide the perfect addition of festive fun whilst enjoying a day of shopping on the nation’s high street. Visitors will be able to enjoy ice skating for the first time in this iconic London location whilst supporting the important work done by GOSH Charity.”

    Tickets go on sale Wednesday 25th October 2023 from www.skatewestend.com.

    Main Photo Credit: Courtesy of Skate West End.

  • Opinion: “I was released from poverty by Compassion.”

    Digital Editor’s Note: I’m very pleased to welcome today’s Guest Writer, Noirine Khaitsa. Noirine is the Senior Manager of Sponsorship Product Support, Compassion International.

    Noirine writes: Global poverty can seem overwhelming. When you look at the numbers and consider that poverty has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, it can feel like there’s nothing we can do to truly make a difference. Currently, nearly ten per cent of the world’s population is living below the poverty line at $2.15 per day and if global trends persist, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty by the end of the decade, which is eight times the size of the UK’s population.

    There’s a story of a young boy that comes to mind when considering global poverty. The boy, when he saw hundreds of starfish washed up on a beach, started picking them up and throwing them back into the ocean. An older man saw what he was doing and scolded him, saying: “You won’t get to all of them, you’re not making an impact, you’re wasting your time”. The boy responds: “What I’m doing makes a difference for each one that gets back to the ocean”.

    That is the simple truth of ending poverty. Each life equipped to break free from poverty is so important, and when one life is helped so are those around them. Through my work with the international child development charity, Compassion, I have seen that it is possible to make a difference to an individual, and through that individual, we can positively impact a family, a community, and eventually a nation. One person can decide to sponsor one child, but when that multiplies out and more of us decide to act, not only do we see transformation in one life, but the potential transformation across millions of lives.

    In my role, I ensure that children sponsored through Compassion’s programme receive the support they need. We partner with thousands of churches in 29 countries to provide local-led interventions and create a support group of people around each child that truly cares about them. I’ve worked with Compassion for ten years now, but after completing university, I knew that I wanted to encourage children and families living in poverty, to tell them that there is hope, and that change is possible.

    And I could tell them this because I had been there.

    I grew up in poverty. My mother was alone looking after her family of six and then eventually eight children. She was a primary school mathematics teacher in a township in Uganda, and as such wasn’t paid well. We struggled to eat, we lived in a tiny house, and all children slept in the same room. I would wonder why we couldn’t be like other kids in my class, who had the food they wanted, who always had enough books, who had a new bag and shoes for every school term. We were barely surviving. My mum was never really there because she left home when we were still sleeping to get to school early, stayed late into the evening to tutor and taught on Saturdays to get extra income. We didn’t have enough, and we also had to raise ourselves. That was my life growing up.

    My mother found out about the Compassion sponsorship programme through a church announcement. My immediate younger brother and I were both registered, and it changed our lives. I graduated from the programme, went to university and now help to lift other children, like me and my siblings, out of poverty. None of this would have been possible without support.

    I was released from poverty by Compassion, working through my local church and I have witnessed first-hand that the cycle of poverty really can be broken. I also know many others, who were in the Compassion programme with me, whose lives have also been transformed.

    There was one boy who was in the programme with me. As difficult as my family situation was, his was worse. His biological mother had passed on before he joined the programme so he and his brother were passed around to live with different relatives. He and his brother found food in the field and ate raw grasshoppers because they were never sure of eating at home. They made their own bedding and slept without coverings. All this changed for the better when he was enrolled in the Compassion programme. He was able to go through school, he is now a Level Three Power Line Electrician, and he is able to take care of his family. I look at all these testimonies around me, personally and professionally, and I am motivated to know that we are contributing to the eradication of poverty.

    Ending global poverty is an overwhelming idea, but I absolutely believe we can do it.  I have seen that in the stories that I have shared and many more that I’ve witnessed. I have myself and my family as an example. All my siblings and I have had an education. We were able to make it through difficulty because of the support that my mum received from the community-led Compassion programme. Poverty has been cut out from our family tree and now I have the privilege of seeing this same transformation daily on a global scale as part of my job.

    Noirine Khaitsa: “Poverty has been cut out from our family tree.”

    South Korea, where Compassion began its work, provides a national example. After the Korean War, there was a lot of difficulty. For 40 years, Compassion worked in the country. Today, South Korea no longer needs Compassion’s support and instead helps others, around the world who are in need. In the country, Compassion went from delivering programmes directly to children, to fundraising there to support others around the world. It happened there and it can happen again. We must keep hope alive. Even when it seems like we are making little progress, every small demonstration of progress means that lives are being changed and that is what leads to great change.

    It’s tempting to feel hopeless in the face of data that shows poverty is getting worse. How can I tackle a problem as huge as poverty? God can do immeasurably more with what we choose to give to Him, there’s a ripple effect when a child is sponsored. It’s not just their life that’s impacted, but also their family and their community is changed. In my case, a child grew up to steer the programme that impacts millions of children across the world. I am evidence that helping an individual makes a difference. You can make a difference.

    How do you tackle a problem like poverty? Begin with a child  compassionuk.org/sponsorship/

    All Photo Credits: Courtesy of Compassion UK.

  • Faith: Have we forgotten the poor?

    “Don’t lose hope.” That’s the message from international child development charity Compassion UK as a survey finds less than half (49%) of UK adults believe it is possible to end extreme poverty worldwide. This number was only slightly higher for Christians, 59%, and only 58% of Christians thought that eradicating extreme poverty is a priority for the world currently.

    On International Day for the Eradication of Poverty the statistics point to an urgent need for action. COVID-19 posed a huge setback to poverty-reducing efforts and the rapid decrease in extreme poverty rates in recent years has stopped. We are going backwards. If trends persist, an alarming 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty by the end of the decade. Currently, nearly 10% of the world’s populations are living below the poverty line at $2.15 per day.

    Mark Preston (pictured above) is Compassion UK’s Senior Director of Partnerships, he said: “We need hope to drive our fight against poverty. In fact, it’s more important than ever not to lose hope, while COVID has put a spanner in the works of poverty eradication, now is the time we need to take action to make sure this setback isn’t permanent. Here at Compassion, we believe the church has a crucial role to play in addressing extreme poverty and we’re encouraged by the impact right now. There is a transformative and exponential impact in a locally-led approach. This gives us hope in the fight against poverty.”

    Compassion UK is urging Christians to take hope in the initiatives being driven by local churches in some of the world’s poorest countries. For example, Compassion’s 8,500 partner churches are providing opportunities to children and young people that will lift them out of poverty and change the future of these communities.

    Preston explained: “The church hasn’t forgotten the poor. In fact, far from it, God’s church is His hands and feet to tackle poverty. Our UK church partners are addressing poverty in their own communities through food banks and warm spaces and also standing shoulder to shoulder with the church across the world, supporting them financially and through prayer.”

    To learn more about locally-led initiatives lifting people out of poverty, go to: https://www.compassionuk.org/about-us/where-we-work/

    Main Photo Credit: Courtesy of Compassion UK

  • Comment: “With any long-term disease comes a sort of mental burden.”

    Chief Executive of The Leprosy Mission, Peter Waddup, is urging people to challenge others who react negatively to anyone struggling with disease. Peter’s eyes have been opened to the suffering this causes, having listened to the heart-wrenching stories of people affected by leprosy.

    Despite being entirely curable, leprosy continues to loom large in the public imagination today. Those affected often suffer greater scars emotionally than from the physical disease itself.

    Peter says that there is no place for disease-related stigma today, whether it be HIV, addiction, or leprosy.

    “With any long-term disease comes some sort of mental burden,” said Peter.

    “Whether it be the strain of managing a condition or frustration over the restriction it puts on someone’s life.

    “There are some diseases, however, where it seems more fair game to make a derogatory comment.

    “We are all guilty of it and often someone may not have even realised they are even showing prejudice. So, it is a good challenge to set and definitely one for me to live out in practice! It’s hard to think of an emotion more painful than shame and I would hate to play a part in causing such hurt.”

    Peter said overcoming stigma surrounding leprosy is the biggest hurdle to ending the disease once and for all.

    “Leprosy is a cruel physical disease which attacks the body. And yet it’s the mental torment surrounding it which is often the hardest to bear,” he said.

    “I have sat with people who have been subjected to unimaginable cruelty. They have been beaten, set fire to and cast out of their families and communities. All because they have leprosy, a curable disease that shouldn’t even exist today. Now, living on the streets, they are the untouchables, the unwanted.

    “Perhaps the cruellest twist is people hiding the early signs of leprosy because they fear rejection. Tragically this temporary fix only serves as a self-fulfilling prophecy. They then develop disabilities because they did not take the antibiotic cure soon enough. Now, bearing the physical signs of leprosy, they go on to live out the heartache of isolation they feared. It’s small wonder that the disease goes hand in hand with anxiety and depression.”

    Leprosy Mission teams work tirelessly to find and cure leprosy in some of the world’s poorest communities. Yet a good part of the charity’s work is awareness raising.

    Peter said: “It’s so important that we begin to expose leprosy for what it really is. A tiny bacterium that simply needs to be caught and treated early. We are continually battling the narrative that leprosy is a curse.

    “While where we work across Asia and Africa this means educating communities, there is also still work to do in the UK.

    “The image of a person with leprosy shaking a bell to warn they are ‘unclean’ is firmly embedded in our psyche. The derogatory term ‘leper’ is used freely today in the UK, often completely innocently. But when you have witnessed the damage that label causes to a person’s life, it prompts me to renew my call to stop all prejudice surrounding any disease. Words are powerful. Labels like ‘leper’, only serve to damage people’s lives when they are at the most vulnerable.

    “I am so encouraged that, through the generosity of people in the UK, we can take each leprosy patient on a journey to restore their dignity. The mental scars might always be there. But through the compassion of my incredible colleagues overseas, together, we help to bring healing and rebuild lives.”

    Main Photo Credit: Jeffrey Chukwu

  • Comment: What is Mentoring?

    Developing maturity is not a new idea. Mentoring is often seen as wisdom being passed on. It may be from father to son, skilled craftsman to apprentice, teacher to pupil, elder to junior, leader to follower.

    Steve Biddulph, Australia’s best known family therapist said: “Each boy is forced to base his idea of self on a thinly drawn image gleaned from externals; TV, movies, and his peers.” I was once a boy, but somehow I became a man. Often this happens without the help of an older or wiser man. As Steve Biddulph writes: “The lack of in-depth elder male connections during our childhoods leaves men bereft and struggling . . . our marriages fail, our kids hate us, we die from stress and on the way we destroy the world.”

    Mentoring is much more than the passing on of information or wisdom. It’s more about one person getting alongside another and working together to develop their thinking or behaviour. There is a strong emphasis on relationship. Mentoring gets beyond the actual information to look at the person and the development of their character.

    Rick Lewis points out that: “Mentoring gives people space and time, within the context of a relationship, to journey towards transformation . . . a good mentor is not so much a person with the right answers as a person with the right questions who walks the road of discovery with others.”

    The time when communities would pass on wisdom from one generation to another seems long gone. In some communities, the transition from boyhood to manhood often involved some very extreme rites of passage in teenage years. In the twenty first century, communities and families have become fragmented, and respect for elders and authority seems diminished. It seems to me that less wisdom is being passed on, and mentoring will need to be an intentional thing, whether it is at that transition stage of boyhood to manhood, or at a later stage of life.

    References:

    Steve Biddulph – Manhood, Finch Publishing

    Rick Lewis – Mentoring Matters, Monarch Books

    Main Photo Credit: Brad Bamore via Unsplash

  • Opinion: Should real crimes be dramatized?

    The Long Shadow drama series tells the story of the five-year manhunt for the serial-killer who was known as the Yorkshire Ripper. It boasts a familiar line up of high-calibre talent. Toby Jones, Lee Ingleby, David Morrissey, Katherine Kelly, Daniel Mays, Jasmine Lee-Jones and Jill Halfpenny all deliver quite remarkable performances. There are seven one hour episodes in total, each one more compelling and gripping than the last.

    While The Long Shadow has generated a bit of grumbling among some of us northern-based media peeps, there has also been much praise for it. Writing and producing a drama, which is based on an unprecedented true story of this magnitude, is such a sensitive exercise that some here in the north may have viewed the idea as a “poisoned chalice”. Leeds and Manchester are cities with thriving media industries and yet The Long Shadow was primarily powered by the south. Were questions raised about whether the north was just too close to the subject and unable to deliver a fresh perspective?

    The Long Shadow is a drama which is based on a true story; actual crimes which actually happened; and the worst kind at that. The creators attempt to help us get our heads around that potential paradox by issuing a fairly direct statement at the start each episode. But, like a home-made no parking sign swallowed up by a ten foot hedge, if you blinked, emotionally or literally, you might just miss it. In fairness, it clearly states that some characters and scenes have been created for the purposes of dramatisation.

    But the story of the Yorkshire Ripper is so badly burned into the British psyche, that the dramatisation aspect of it cannot be emphasised strongly enough. Some of us may need reminding that we’re watching a drama, not evidence for use in courtroom proceedings, not a factual documentary or a journalistic account of events. A drama. The creators have fabricated some fictional characters and scenes, they’ve been made up, they’ve said as much, right from the off. The sensible viewer must keep this fabrication in mind. The literalists who roll their eyes and protest that “ah yes, but such-and-such a thing never actually happened” have missed the opening statement and possibly the entire point of television drama.

    Photo credit: Sam McGhee via Unsplash

    Should true crime stories be dramatised for public consumption?

    This is a tough ethical question. Rembrandt’s famous oil painting The Return of the Prodigal Son is one artist’s interpretation of a fictional story, made up by no less than *Jesus himself. Much commentary has been made regarding the authenticity of Rembrandt’s scene. Characters have been included which were not mentioned by Jesus. Rembrandt’s art is not a photograph of reality, it’s his interpretation and representation of a powerful story. In a similar way, it seems reasonable to me, that television dramas might transcend the precise literal truth of events, while taking great care not to sensationalize the facts.

    Drama invites the viewer to step outside of time and place. Viewing confirms acceptance of that invitation. By continuing to watch, the viewer passes through a sort of portal where there are risks. We risk expanding our horizons, we risk stepping outside of known narratives, comfort zones, mindsets, prevailing cultures, attitudes and agonies. Like the hundreds of people who line up to witness The Return of the Prodigal Son at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, we risk stepping right into the flawed human representation of a powerful story. To engage with creative works of art is to risk changing and expanding our views about the known and the unknown.

    For a story as horrendous as The Long Shadow, is that transcendence of literal reality, much more than creative license? Is it essential to the telling of the story? In a case such as this, if we were to demand the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth would we have to witness the re-enactments of terrible crimes which really happened? Acts so evil, so cruel, that some hearts may not be able to recover from the witnessing of them, and that can’t be right can it?

    While watching The Long Shadow I was struck just as much by those parts of the story which were left out, as by those which were left in. I limit my viewing of crime dramas, mainly because of gory murder scenes and compulsory conversations around post mortem examinations. As a visual thinker, these scenes are packed with high-impact, high-res images which can soak up too much precious data capacity. Some scenes in The Long Shadow gave me shudders. The creators cleverly capitalize on the true-story-terror and convey a chilling sense of foreboding without depicting any violence and without the shedding of a single drop of blood on screen. The killer himself is not the centre of the story, he’s not glamorised as with some true crime dramas, in fact he barely makes an appearance, and I’m fine with that.

    Photo credit: Al Elmes via Unsplash

    Some of the filming of The Long Shadow took place in and around a home belonging to a friend of a friend; a real bricks and mortar house which I have actually visited. This added a strange dimension for me personally, bringing a surreal grounding effect to some episodes. Trendy homes back then were about a million miles away from the open plan, grey-beige minimalism of today. The bizarre fashions, the contrived hairstyles, the Deidre spectacles, the wacky wallpaper, they all shout of an uneasy time of turmoil and uprising. The Long Shadow highlights the shocking practices of an era where societal attitudes towards women were even more outrageous than the zany trends of the day. Blatant misogyny abounded. The intensity of these prevailing attitudes are sensitively conveyed by David Morrissey as DCS George Oldfield, the police officer who led the manhunt, a determined but thoroughly misguided individual.

    The women in this story weren’t heard, believed or valued. It’s the kind of relatable, conflicted viewing that can make you nod in recognition at the telly, whilst wanting to throw an ugly vase at the screen in protest. Somehow we are spared the most obvious details, at the same time as being smacked square between the eyes with the relentless horror of those five years. I am grateful for the careful omissions, at the same time as being desperately, desperately sad for all those who died, lived, and continue to live with the impact of those crimes.

    The Long Shadow highlights a disturbing time in history, a shameful period where many women were badly let down. Many consider it to be a critical turning point regarding women’s rights and women’s voices. My prayers have to be with all those women associated with this story, their families and all the people who love them. The Long Shadow is a modern day work of creative art, as powerful and compelling as any Rembrandt, and as such I hope that the sensitive delivery of it might bring some measure of peace to those who need it most. All in all, it’s very clever telly, and this northerner must doff her metaphorical flat cap and give the creators credit, where credit is indeed due.

    The Long Shadow is available on ITV1 and ITVX from 25th September 2023.

    *The story of the Prodigal Son is recorded in Luke 15:11-32.

    Main Photo Credit: Courtesy of Daniel Mays via Twitter/X