in spiked this week

Patrick West World’s Largest Metaphor Hits Iceberg  The Unsinkable Titanic told the story of the doomed liner without the usual waves of misanthropy and anti-science.

in spiked October 31, 2008

Patrick West How the soap kills the murder plot Murder mysteries are titillating and intriguing in literary and cinematic forms, but TV just can’t seem to pull them off.

in Culture Wars, October 23, 2008

Slaves to fame

The Fame Formula, How Hollywood's Fixers, Fakers and Star Makers Created The Celebrity Industry, by Mark Borkowski (Sidgwick & Jackson)

Patrick West

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It is a cliché that today we live in a culture obsessed by ‘celebrity’, with the lumpen proletariat forever fawning over the minutiae of talentless non-entities who are famous merely for being famous. The popularity and power wielded by Hello! magazine, the profusion of famous nobodies spawned from and spewed out by Channel Four’s Big Brother and other reality television programmes, are often cited as proof of this cultural phenomenon. Perhaps the most visible evidence of our celebrity culture can be witnessed at local newsagents, which now sell a cornucopia of cheap magazine titles devoted entirely to the inexplicably famous.

in spiked October 23, 2008

Patrick West
Your spin-off for 10… From The Colbys to Joey, TV is known for its dodgy spin-offs. Now even a quiz show is spawning new versions.

in spiked October 17, 2008

Patrick West
Apollo 13: a triumph over adversity A TV doc reminds us that even failed space missions can be inspiring. Surely it’s time we returned to the moon?

in spiked October 10, 2008

Patrick West
Unhappy birthday  to This Morning Trite, inconsequential, and aimed at bored women: why celebrate this show?

in spiked September 26, 2008

Patrick West
Why I’ve changed my mind about Piers Morgan He used to be a sleazy hack, but the formerMirror editor’s honest interviewing style is a breath of fresh air.