In a spectaularly eccentric piece of shceduling, on Sunday, the BBC's

hi-end arts channel,BBC4, screened the hoary 'Carry on Loving'. I felt compelled

to watch, hoping it would reveal contain some insight into socal history

that would justify it's screening.

Actually, I wasn't dissapointed.

Charles Hawtry is arrested following a misunderstanding in a public lavatory at

a railway station. The police officer happens to be patrolling the area and

is in prime position to apprehend the offender so as to preserve the peace.

In itself, this harmless tosh. Police don't hang around deserted

Underground stations detering crime. They never have done; only in films and TV.

Yet many of the British public seriously think that current criminal policy

should be based on what they've seen in fiction - that police must get 'back

on the beat'. 'Carry on Loving' aside, this perception is largley based on the

memory of the police drama 'Dixon of Dock Green'.