The odd trio: The problem with this programme is that these three interesting people just don't match up
Off the Page works to a format that could only exist on Radio 4. It is almost unbelievable that it has survived the evolution of human discourse; it's like the Chinese alligator of conversation. So, Dominic Arkwright takes a topic ? instant gratification ? and three people with different viewpoints discuss it.
Except that, before they discuss it, they read a little essay on the topic, as if they are in a debating society. Sathnam Sanghera, columnist on the Times, read a piece on Mumbai, and how India's sudden discovery of instant pleasure was turning out to be their road out of poverty.
Gandhi, he reminds us, thought that the economic problems of that vast country could be solved if they would only weave their own cloth rather than importing it. And look how that worked out, he reminded us, with understated charm.
Jane Freear-Wyld is an artist whose tapestries can take 1600 hours. "Are you advocating this as a hobby or as a manufacturing method?" Sanghera asked her cheekily.
Matt Beaumont talks about the Rolling Stones, and the advertising industry, and his place in it, and whether or not he's responsible for all the evils of the world (he cheerfully admits that he is). It's not until the very end, when they're talking about speed dating, that I realise what's wrong: these people are just not cut out for each other. A speed date would have established this in three minutes, but the courtesy of Radio 4 means it takes 30.
It's not boring. I just would have learned more from the sustained thoughts of any one of them, instead of the patchwork of mild disagreement between all three.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/jun/16/off-the-page-radio-review
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