A colleague over here in Oxford pointed me at a BBC TV program about English people emigrating to Australia. Yesterday’s episode was about a couple who are thinking of moving to Adelaide - so at time of writing you can still watch this online at BBC One.
Jon Mills is desperate to persuade his wife Mandi that a better life lies ahead for their young family in Australia. But Mandi has never left the UK before, and has strong ties with family and friends living close by, in her beloved Barrow-in-Furness.
Will Adelaide be able to work its magic on Mandi?
Will it indeed?
I was somehow embarrassed to find that the program seems to be some kind of paid promotional video, trying to get British people to move to Australia. (Is this some ongoing extension of the White Australia policy? Why not get Afghani people to move there?)
The program has a string of cliched scenes showing the famed benefits of living in spacious, summery places like Adelaide. And no mention whatsoever of excruciating heatwaves, limited cultural life, suburbs spread far too far away, ghostly empty streets, etc. Of course I love Adelaide, but I would rather have seen a balanced picture of the place.
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