ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

Why are you giving this Dominos Pizzas guy so much publicity? The story is an atrocious one - but irrespective of its merits, I didn't think the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ did so much advertising.

I was frustrated by the discussion on the new Harry Potter book. The constant comparison of JK Rowling to Philip Pullman and JRR Tolkien is unfair. She does not claim to write high literature. Instead she aims to write books that her [child] readers will enjoy. Although I recognise that Pullman's Golden Compass is very well written I don't actually like it and I feel no sympathy for it's heroine. Whereas I like the Harry Potter books and empathise with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Although they aren't nearly as well written, I would much rather read Rowling's books than the His Dark Materials ones.

Why did the host, Hardeep Singh, rebuke and silence Sue Perkins with a swift "we don't want to offend our Muslim viewers" during the discussion about the Simpsons, when she made a reference to a scene in the movie of "man-pig love"? First, the concept is outrageous to everybody (at least, I hope) - but much of what is funny is making fun of the outrageous. Second, you either must show the same level of deference to all religions, or defer to none of them. Mockery of Christian beliefs is becoming more commonplace in broadcast media. I find this offensive, as a non fundamentalist Christian. However, I would not expect a film reviewer to omit all references to a film's content which might offend my beliefs. I expect the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ to take a more balanced approach than this.

I don't know why the panel feels the need to dismiss Diagnosis Murder in this way. Dick van Dyke is one of the world's best-loved entertainers with a career spanning over fifty years and Diagnosis Murder is a considerably more enjoyable body of work than anything produced by Ian McMillan! Indeed, I think it has more than earned a place in the same breath as The Simpsons!

I can't really understand why this Nashi thing is such a bad thing, not strictly speaking very western in approach but Russia is not a western country and has different values.

I feel the report kind of implied that the view the West is surpressing Russia is one predominantly held by members of this youth movement, but I know this not to be the case. Armenian nationals sympathetic to Russia have also told me these stories first hand. Many Armeinians living in Russia are treated as second class citizens, but having studied in Russia, my friends still held many of these views. Facist tendencies are growing, many jews are being killed or deported to the west, but I feel that we are at least in part to blame, not necessarily the governments, but speculators hitting a country when they were down and speculating against the Russian economy in the Yeltsin era.

Russia is now very corrupt, but perhaps you saw this as too synical a ploy by the Russian government, there has to be some structure in place or Russia would collapse totally, maybe these young people need a reliable role model, and if it keeps people out of organised crime maybe it's a good thing. There is also no evidence to say they have been indocrinated by attending this camp in your film, as these I know these views to be held elsewhere I know full well they could have held them before going there. It could be as much a product of pro putin media. As a teacher, when I ask my students to do a presentation, not everything they come out with is politcally correct either. Anyway, not everything about communism and socaialism was bad you know, it produced many very noble citizens, as well as a few bad ones, just like capitalism, and it stopped many Russian peasants hope of a better future. The soviets were passionate, obsessed with a sense of technological and idealogical progress which was a catalyst to making life in the west even better! They may not have been quite as good as us but they did it their way, and I think doing things independently of the west or at least retaining the sense of doing so is a key battleground in winning over Russian public opinion, even if we want to be THEY certainly don't want to be the 51st state of America so I say, don't judge them, put them down, laugh at them or say same old Ruskies, LET THEM BE AS ECCENTRIC AS THEY LIKE becuase they are not doing anyone over here any harm. Let them have a bit of independence and long live Lenin!

I thought tonight's programme was a truly exceptional package - the sort of programme which really justifies the licence fee and makes me feel glad we have the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ and makes me take back my resentment of the TV tax.
I am really a tabloid man myself but the Domino's pizza investigation was excellent. To get somebody from this company, and a trade unionist representing exploited workers might have been unfashionable - but it was truly excellent journalism.
I thought the piece on floods (particularly China and India segment) was riveting and an example of the Beeb using its unique range of overseas correspendents in the best possible way.
The Nashi stormtroopers segment also took me some where that newsprint has never been - and was balanced.
I thought the Review section was not necessarily the strongest segment ever, but on a desperately slow summer news day I thought Newsnight did totally exceptionally tonight.

I found my self agreeing with putin's comments, and as for nationalistic youth movements, i think you will find most countries have done/do that anyhow; for king and country, dib dib

A little beef: the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ 1 evening 6 o clock news final credit shots from waterlogged Britian, the final shot was dark clouds and in the distance was a power station pumping its contents into the atmosphere; are the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ fully paid up members of the popular view that man is the sole contributor to global warming; someone needs to check this uncertain science before splicing clips together suggesting that industrialised man is the culprit..books, data and present day scientist have made good and convincing arguments against this claim and before you follow the herd on any popular thinking, always check counter arguments as well.

PS: hardeep is the man for the review, i hope to see more of him fronting it..i think he has finally got his head around the auto-cue and pulled back a little on his natural tendency to always think comic.

Verdi's Macbeth.
Just how is it possible that Richard Jones, after his appalling production -anachronistic to every note of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel's magical score, be allowed to maim yet another masterpiece beats me.
For example he ruined the lovely music of its Dream Pantomime, by adopting Roux brothers type chefs, processing carrying stainless steel bowls of food.
In The Ring Cycle I was told he had Brunnhilde with a brown paper bag over her head led by a string through a school desks!
So how ridiculously easy, and yet so nationally shameful it must be for him to convince those pretentious luvvies lurking around operatic planning, that anachronism simply equals genius!
Apart from Bedisha, the panel were quite out of their depth discussing such a music drama. While Ian McMillan's excitement, along with much arm waving at his thrill at the tearing of a piece of cardboard, seemed just ridiculous, inconsequential and irrelavent to such an enormous operatic project.

I really enjoyed this Review for the way in which nobody shouted anyone else down, although there were plenty of disagreements. Can it be because three of the four panellists were women and didn't feel it necessary to be dominant? As to man-pig relations, and offending Muslims, surely that was just a throw-away joke? Are Muslims the new mothers-in-law when it comes to slighty iffy jokes?

Please ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ, never let Rowan Pelling anywhere near Review ever again. Aside from sniggering every time Ian McMillan made a comment in his non-Oxbridge accent (which she obviously found so amusing), I can't recall her doing anything of note.

Oh and kudos to Bidisha for being the only one being at all controversial AGAIN. If you need anyone else to just sit there and nod I'll be waiting for the call.

I watched the Newsnight investigation into Dominoes Pizza and the underpaid/dismissed Hungarian workers with great interest both as someone who has worked in franchising and also lives in the Derby area, where this has been widely reported.
While, I deplore the way these workers appear to have been treated I was very disappointed by the superficial Newsnight analysis and the questioning by Gavin Esler.
It was good that Newsnight had managed to get both the CEO of Dominoes Pizza and the Unite rep. in the same studio but it was unfortunate Mr Esler's questions seemed to revolve around generally 'trashing' the Dominoes corporate brand - a recurring ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ news characteristic towards PLCs - rather than probing the circumstances and facts.
This resulted in Mr Esler and Newsnight failing to grasp that it was not Dominoes Pizza who actually employed the workers but is in fact the franchisee (a separate company) who has legal responsibility. This resulted at the end of the questioning with the CEO of Dominoes tamely saying he would look to re-employ the workers, when in reality he knows he can't, it's down to the franchisee - and Mr Esler being unable to challenge this?
Secondly, if Mr Esler had known this he would have been in a much better position to explore what advice/guidelines Dominoes provides to its franchisees (if any) regarding employing expanded EU member workers and those on the minimum wage and whether the franchisee had in fact followed these.
Hope this helps the Newsnight team and Mr Esler when we come to the next round of interviews on this one!

Why is it that on the very few occasions that Newsnight Review discusses 'classical' music they consistently fail to have a musician, composer or music critic on the panel. Last night was a prime example of this and it led to an embarrassing section of the programme. Comments such as (and I'm paraphrasing here) 'I don't know much about music but there seemed to be lots of oboes and bassoons' are pitifully inadequate. It was very unclear what was actually being reviewed - Verdi's music? the staging? the singing? Would it be so hard to invite a raio 3 critic on when discussing music to bring some much needed clarity to proceedings. Film buffs have Mark Kermode, there's alway a novelist, why not have Ivan Hewitt or Norman le Brecht. Better still have a musician!

Also, please stop inviting Michael Gove on.

I was very interested in the Domino's investigation, as it brought back some memories of a story a generation ago about petrol station cashiers who were having 'shortages' in the till debited to their pay !

This is a difficult issue, as it rather presumes that Europe is acting as a single market with completely uniform terms of trade and legislation when in reality it is not.

If the level of wages and social chapter protection were level throughout the EU there would be less incentive to move from one area to another.

Of course I am not blaming people in Hungary from wanting to pursue better prospects elsewhere.

There is an inequality of bargaining power between these people and a multi-national, but there does need to be an element of 'caveat emptor' to beware of the trade-off between costs and benefits of moving to the UK. Clearly employees have been misled about these by the company, but they have to take some personal responsibility for their welfare in making choices to avoid the 'sharks'.

I am in no way defending Domino's behaviour. But in a 'high-wage' area like the UK which has opted out of the social chapter, there is always the incentive for poorer employers to indulge in 'gaming' of the rules to their advantage.

Clearly, being part of a union can be a useful defence. But the key thing is to have knowledge that there are good and bad employers everywhere, and Newsnight is helping in bringing this information to the public.

So, the chairman of your panel reviewing The Simpsons film censors comments that might offend Muslims.
Please explain yourself Sir.

Have those commenters on the non-offending of Muslims had an irony bypass or, in an act of ultimate irony, I misinterpreted their ironical behaviour?

I suggest Domino's CEO Stephen Hemsley does his research a little more throughly before making comment on the Derby debacle.

I am a Domino's driver and have payslips showing deductions by my franchisee for a uniform I am required to wear, and business insurance, which Mr Hemsley says should be covered by the franchisee.

It would appear Domino's has no control over its franchisees - or perhaps it a case of turning a blind eye to boost its vast annual profits.

I totally agree with Rachael and Andrew's comments on the review of Verdi's Macbeth at the Proms. Watching your cultural commentators attempt to respond to this was cringingly embarrassing. Bidisha couldn't tell who was who because the male characters all wore kilts. I hope she never watches 'The West Wing' - it's totally baffling because they all wear suits. And there were axes rather than daggers. And why was a character wearing gloves?

All of this misses the point. At a Prom like this one, the semi-staging is merely a bonus. The full house had gone to hear the music and performances. So where was the discussion about whether Andrezj Dobber is a true heir to the great Verdi baritones Cappuccilli and Bruson (I think he might be)? And what about the white-hot conducting and playing of Jurowski and the LPO? What about the broader questions? About the way Verdi and his librettist approached Shakespeare's play? And the relationship of this opera to Verdi's late masterpieces 'Otello' and 'Falstaff'?

Surely, particularly in these days of dwindling confidence in the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ, if you are going to discuss classical music on Newsnight Review, then you can find a reviewer who knows just a teeny-weeny bit about it?

I'd also like to echo Graeme and Rachael & Andrew's comments. What is the point in asking two novellists, a poet and a comedian, their views on music? The ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ might as well ask Ian Hislop onto Football Focus. Whenever music is discussed on NR (whether it be classical or popular) the conversation is usually totally irelevant, and often focusses on the social and political aspects rather than the actual music itself. Either Review should just stick to books, films and TV, or better still, get a musician on the show to review music. I hardly think that's a revolutionary idea, but one that seems to have escaped the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ!

Having resisted until now the Harry Potter phenomenon for the more subtle charms of Philip Pullman's magical world, the discussion on Friday's Late Night Review made me think again. Has there ever been such universal agreement about a book? The panel mentioned another author who had also written a trilogy (Philip Grieve?). Did anyone catch the name?

I would like to thank those people for there comments posted, I personally think that there is so little information about peoples employment rights, that companies like dominos franchisee are able to get away with things like this. Should this start to become on our education timetable to better prepare people for work.

Best review in a very long time - if not ever. Once again Hardeep hosted the show well, his sense of humour is great! There was no shouting as seen 2 weeks ago when reviewing the aliatair campbell diaries. The simpsons, harry potter and macbeth at the proms was just my cup of tea! When is Hardeep next presenting?

Apparently Will Self has been particularly snooty about Harry Potter. Sour grapes! Never read it but saw one film which was good fun. Not sure I could take it all the time, but the kids, they love it, like the Simpsons!

AK Rowling, just over-exposed, artistically, as usual something good, becomes a forumulaic money making machine. Matt Groening, Simpsons film, maybe the same problem but the kids want more so what can you do? And it is funny, however many times I watch the same one, manage to spot something different, which is pretty clever really.

Still thats the world of art critics who turn the whole thing into their own industry. Then get the hump when someone manages to cash in on it!

Newsnight Review, and the discussion of the Simpsons Film, and the Latest Harry Potter; a fine examaples of 'Emporer's New Clothes (Culture?)' These are not 'culture'; a Teenage associate of mine, who I discused this amusing programme with, remarked 'Cult', yes, culture no.
I have not bothered to watch much Simpsons; it's merely Televisual Wallpaper, into which its adherents read too much; as they do, with Harry Potter.
Still, it was quite funny to see the assembled cultural worthies in 'earnest' discussion of subjects worthy of an Undergraduate Party.

I'd seen Verdi's Macbeth at the Proms and was looking forward to hearing what your panel had to say about it. But I wish I hadn't bothered watching since no one had anything to say about the music or the performances. It was pathetic. All your reviewers seemed out of their depth. I agree with the people who've posted before me: get someone who knows about music on the panel in future!

Sean, (1 Aug),

Good God, an undergraduate who doesn't watch The Simpsons! - I didn't think it possible. If you actually bothered to watch it you'd find it was far from wallpaper, more an exquisite painting. Funny, intelligent, heart-warming. Perhaps you'd like to have a go at defining culture (I'm sure all those social science books in the University library will help). I think the Simpsons is a perfect example of mass culture, which unlike so much of it, doesn't dumb down and gives its audience respect. I suppose however, that you're definition of culture is something narrow and worthy which only the few can enjoy - in fact I look forward to seeing you on NR in the future!

as i driver myself, i was also deductioned of wages, but it was a whole 2weeks of holiday money! what a disgrgace stephen hemsley is. he should get from behind his desk and see what is happening. and sack the people who are causing these problem. BUT HE WONT? why mr hemsley?

This was the worst review show for a long time and that is saying something! It has gone badly downhill ever since Mark Lawson left. I thought this programme was supposed to appeal to adults but what we got were a review of a children's book and a children's cartoon. This is supposed to be the flagship arts review show! I can't value the reviewers opinion either, they seem to be really struggling to make any coherent criticism, especially Ian MacMillan. Bring back Mark Lawson et al VERY SOON please for some intellegent discussion or I'll give up on the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ altogether!!!