Madeley Meets the Squatters - TV review
I must admit, I had the earnest hope that Richard Madeley might present last night's documentary dressed up in full Ali G costume in an effort to engage with the youth of today. However, to quote his long-suffering wife Judy: "I'm afraid not."
Looking to investigate the issue of squatting around the country, the former daytime presenter may appear an odd choice for the show; almost a bewildering one, in fact, given he's a cocktail of two parts Alan Partridge and a single measure of Ken Barlow's barnet.
Yet, for his gaffe-prone history, Richard Madeley has always had an oddly charming and rather endearing persona – due in no small part to an ability to turn a phrase, coupled with an honest lack of cynicism.
Filmed throughout the summer, the documentary is oddly timed given it was produced just as a change in law for squatting was coming into practice (a law that effectively criminalises squatting in residential properties).
Yet it's belatedly aired over three months after the first squatter was arrested under section 144. So in effect, you get the build-up to an event that's already passed.
Jumping mainly between Bristol and London, Richard meets a host of squatters that range from hard-drinking Lithuanians living in a burned-out pub who, amongst other things, defecate on the streets every night, to a community living an eco-friendly existence on land which lies along Heathrow's proposed third runway.
Where the show found its strengths was with Richard's personality and his nuanced, unbiased approach to the issues. Airing views to both extremes of the line, one of a few eye-opening interviews was with Mike Weatherley, the MP and architect behind the new law, who could only have come across as more right-wing had he appeared as an animated wax work of Margaret Thatcher.
"I don't think they're demonised enough", he says of squatters, cheerfully chalking them up as anarchists and drug users.
Another highlight of the show came with an argument between a squatter and the landlord of the property that they've sequestered.
The back and forth volleys between owner's rights, and the moral defence of 'borrowing' a derelict property in a biting recession was perhaps the most entertaining and enlightening moments of the show, with Richard deftly mediating the exchange and asking questions that furthered the debate.
However, much like Madeley's first encounter with squatters in Walthamstow, the show opens the door of the issue, tentatively steps in, but beats a hasty retreat before we really find out about the lives of the squatters inside.
Sure, we see the committee in Bristol, and we witness them 'liberating' food from skips – living up to the 'urban Wombles' moniker with some aplomb – but we never see anything more intimate of their lives, or the suffering that we're told about.
One young squatter, Tristan, says: "This is true suffering". That's what we should have seen. A glimpse of their rooms and a light-hearted jest over bathroom arrangements is little more than what most put up with going camping in Wales.
Peeping into the life of squatters is enough to help enlighten Richard – with his conclusion that 'you can't label squatting simply, it's a complex world that these people live in' anything but a ground-breaking discovery. Nor will it change anyone's minds about squatting.
In fact, the programme feels like, despite its positives, it missed an opportunity to really present something new. You can't help but think that we caught a glimpse of a feast and ended up with a cheese sandwich.
Robert Taylor
