So it's doubly annoying that I've spent most of today in a state of PURE RAGE over this piss-poor excuse for a prime-time television programme.
Word reached me late this morning that there was some drama occurring in King's House over a Midsomer Murders script which had been received by officers with a request to film in Brighton. I won't go into the tedious and convoluted details of the (*ahem*) "storyline", but suffice to say the denouement hinged on bent Green Planning Committee members.
I can't begin to describe how angry I was when I heard this. SO. ANGRY. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.
As the local Green spokesperson for Planning, and our lead member on the Planning Committee, I was virtually exploding with rage at the thought of anyone daring to suggest that Green Brighton & Hove City Councillors could behave corruptly, especially some Soho scriptwriting chump who probably thinks Climate Change is what happens when you turn the aircon on.
Oh boy, was I LIVID. I steamed over to King's House to find out what the f*** was going on. To cut a long story short, I eventually found myself on the phone to one of our lawyers, who told me he'd read the offending script and had promptly sent a very stern email to the Midsomer Murders producers suggesting they cut all mention of Greens from the story.
"I don't think they realise the situation down here", said the lawyer apologetically. "I have now explained to them that the Green Party has a nationally renowned historic association with Brighton & Hove.
"I have also advised them that you're one of the biggest Green Groups on any local authority in the country, and that we have a Green MEP who may well be elected to Westminster next year.
"It could all just be an innocent mistake", the lawyer continued hopefully. "Anyway, I'll let you know what they say on Monday."
Well I'm sorry, but I pulled a big [hmm] face at this. It could be a case of genuine ignorance - after all, prime-time TV drama scriptwriters are probably too busy blowing the froth off their cappuccinos and agonising over which Gucci loafers to wear to pay much attention to provincial local politics. Who can blame them for not knowing that nearly a quarter of Brighton & Hove City Council is made up of Greens?
But the conspiracy theorist in me can't help pondering on the serried mass of luvvies and associate types entrenched within the heart of the New Labour machine...
And I started wondering: are Labour really bricking it that much at the prospect of losing their Brighton Pavilion parliamentary seat to Caroline Lucas that they'd resort to shoehorning a not-very-subtle "GREENS ARE BAD" message into the televisual equivalent of the Daily Mail?
This is a mystery worthy of investigation by DCI Tom Barnaby himself. As it is, I'll have to wait until Monday when I'll hear more from the lawyers before deciding whether or not to really kick off about this (*fumes*).
