UNTIL recently I only had time to take in high-octane, slick-produced US dramas such as ER, West Wing and CSI a quick TV fix.

Forty-five minutes, maybe 50 at a push is all I can manage in front of the box. I think this is because I watch so much football. I need a half-time break to have a beer and moan about what I have just had to watch. (I am a Spurs fan you see.)

But I decided to make an effort and take in the BBC's "landmark" two-part series The Lost Prince.

This type of thing doesn't really appeal to me. It's about the royal family and you have to watch it over two parts with seven days between.

The drama attempts to document the life of Prince John, the forgotten son of King George V and Queen Mary with a backdrop of the the First World War, the Russian revolution and the suffragette movement.

Prince John suffered fits because of epilepsy and was possibly autistic in a time when there was little sympathy for those with such health problems, so he was hidden away and cared for mainly by his nanny Lalla Bill, played by Gina McKee, until his death in 1919 at the age of 14.

Many critics have described Stephen Poliakoff's drama as sumptuous, lavish, and textured. The mere fact that it is a costume drama makes it worth watching but I found it plodding and dull. There is an interesting story in there, but there is nothing extraordinary to back up it's landmark billing as a television event.The Sopranos provides more gilt-edged drama in its first half-hour every week compared to The Lost Prince.

I will try and see the second part next week. The Lost Prince was good but let's not get carried away.

Written by Tarlock Rai

January 23, 2003 09:00