As regular visitors to The TV Show website may have noticed, Aaqil Ahmed’s blog post, Christianity: A History, has generated an unprecedented level of feedback in recent weeks. As the series has progressed, so has the online debate, with over 200 comments now published.
Having kept an interested eye on comments since the series began, Aaqil has been keen to respond and as such contacted Channel 4’s viewers’ editor Paula Carter to talk through some of the common themes raised by viewers.
Does Aaqil agree think that the series title is misleading? Does it really represent a “history” or would it be more accurate to describe each programme as a personal opinion? How does Aaqil respond to criticism that the series omitted important historical facts? Who was the series aimed at? Has he been pleased with the feedback the series has attracted?
Watch the video to see what Aaqil had to say when Paula put your questions directly to him. And please leave your comments below to continue the debate! Alternatively, you can post a video response to Channel 4 using our video upload tool.
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Aaquil talks a lot but don’t says much.
Dear Paula and Aaquil,
Just a thought or two on why the series generated such a heated response from viewers. Christianity is a grand narrative while the series approaches the subject very much from the postmodern relativist perspective. Christianity deals with universal truths and themes while the programmes, as Aaquil says, primarily presented a personal viewpoint. This resulted in a tension between the subject matter and its presentation that was keenly felt by those who take an interest in Christianity. Of course Christianity has undergone many interpretations over the years. However, I think some of the programmes (Blakemore and Blair) did not demonstrate sufficient research or understanding of these in order to bring along viewers toward their particular viewpoints. The Beckford and Widdecombe programmes where much better in this regard. In the end perhaps there is no substitute for knowing your subject and I think the postmodern trend, that its all about generating debate often results in more heat than light. Again, it’s very postmodern that because someone is knowledgable in one walk of life, they are knowledgable in another. The series shows that this is by no means necessarily so. That all said, I would hope that Channel 4 will not be put off producing further religious or spiritual programmes in the future. There is a great need to develop the divine dimension to life.
I felt the series missed an opportunity. I found each programme very interesting, but the whole series was really the history of the Roman church. Where was the Orthodox church? the Coptic church? the Celtic church? gnosticism?Why was Protestantism given a mere mention in a mainly protestant country? There was too much omitted for the title to be a reflection of Christianity. More please!
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