It is quite right that ITV has decided to axe The Jeremy Kyle Show.
It would have been highly insensitive to the family of Stephen Dymond to have continued with a programme that traded on other people’s misery and misfortune.
MPs have now launched a probe into reality television and its duty of care to participants.
While The Jeremy Kyle Show frequently overstepped the mark, in the right hands reality TV produces great entertainment. By featuring real people it has democratised our screens and given a stage to aspiring talent.
The inquiry should seek to learn from the best as well as condemn the worst which chase ratings at the expense of contestants’ psychological welfare.
Pushing the vulnerable to extremes or devising formats to encourage confrontation is not entertainment but cruel exploitation.
But popular telly that celebrates, rather than demeans, its guests is to be welcomed.
Cancer heroes
A pioneering centre is set to revolutionise cancer treatment.
The UK research base will help those with some forms of the disease live longer with a better quality of life, turning cancer from being a death sentence into a manageable condition.
If the drug trials are a success this treatment could be available on the NHS within a decade.
It is a tribute to our remarkable scientists and doctors that they continue to push the boundaries of medical research. The lives of millions could be transformed as a result.
But more could be done if they are properly funded and do not have to appeal for
donations to complete the new building.
Jumping back
In a Jumpin’ Jack Flash Mick Jagger is back strutting his stuff after undergoing heart surgery.
We’ll soon have the Satisfaction of seeing him perform again. It would have taken Wild Horses to keep him off the stage.
