Lytton's Diary

It doesn't sound particularly exciting or uplkifting to follow the adventures of a gossip columnist although at the time the press wasn't quite as much in the gutter as it is now. But surprisingly Lytton's Diary was one of my favourite shows back in the 80s shown only on regional German TV. The standard of writing is pretty high, the stories are well written, sometimes touching on controversial issiues and the characters are rather interestinbg. Lytton's Diary shows Fleet Street when it still was in Fleet Street although Murdoch was already on the scene. So in a way, today it actually makes you feel rather nostalgic. The show's greatest asset is leading man Peter Bowles here at his suave best. All in all: good, entertaining quality drama although it actually looks pretty dated today in terms of the very harsh contrasts and the cheap studio look.