Boxing Clever…

Let’s face it. On the whole telly is largely a pernicious and malevolent force continually aiding and abetting a celeb-obsessed, tabloid-fed society to chasm down into a never-ending pit of mediocrity and crassness.

But sometimes telly can actually do some good.

Take the ubiquitous Jamie Oliver. The gets-where-shit-doesn’t mockney geezer TV chef (who anyone sane wanted to punch about four years ago) did a good deed by opening his Fifteen restaurant and teaching disadvantaged kids to cook, then he topped that by getting the Blair government to gets off its pontificating arse and commit money and policy into getting the nation’s kids to eat better.

Redemption complete in my eyes.

In fact he can probably go and bugger the entire populace of the Anna Scher Theatre School on live TV and I’d still think he’s an OK sort of guy. In fact I’d probably like him more for the latter as it may mean the little darlings would be so traumatised that they’d stop wanting to act, therefore not appearing on EastEnders playing rough kids but rough kids with perfect skin, air-brushed smiles and RP diction. Little fuckers…

Anyway the success of Oliver has, of course, spawned another C4 vehicle that extends the caring and sharing telly franchise with Ian Wright's Unfit Kids.

In this series the usually perma-grinning Wrighty takes a group of sullen, unenthusiastic and overweight kids and tries to get them doing the sort of activities (well, any activities actually…) that will see them take some interest in their health.

And it’s hard work but the former England’s striker mix of enthusiasm and grumpiness comes shining through as he slowly makes headway with the sort of kids who are low-income heart attacks waiting to happen.

Bizarrely it’s quite compelling TV as Wrighty struggles to make an impact on the kids and, what in other hands could have been quite crass, turns into something moving as he gets to like the kids and they get to like him.

In last night’s episode he chatted to one of the kids whose dad has just come back into his life and he discussed how his own son dislikes him at the moment after leaving his mum for a new life.

It was touching stuff and it works as good telly and good campaigning. More of the same would be good – but no Anna Scher kids. Please!