The Red Lion
Who saw The Red Lion on Channel 4 last night? I was intrigued. A Cutting Edge documentary, it was basically an hour-long advert for pubs and the joys of drinking.
Ostensibly a look at the role of the pub in British culture, The Red Lion (apparently the most popular pub name in England) visited several pubs of that name and interviewed regulars and bar staff. Hence we had the story of the Welsh university netball team and their regular Wednesday night pub crawl, the sole aim of which was to get absolutely wasted. Then there was the rugger bugger crowd, similarly inebriated most nights of the week, particularly Saturdays. Then there were the golfers…. you get the gist. Lots of people had puffy faces and the men had beer bellies.
But there were surprises. The 80-year-old women, both of whom had been married to journalists called Bob. “The Bobs” died about 10 years ago and since then the women have become firm friends, having lunch twice a week at their local Red Lion, where they enjoy a bottle of wine before wobbling home to finish another couple. That’s on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays it’s wine at one of their homes and then rum and Coke.
Bejesus. Apart from the occasional off-camera question from the (dour-sounding) film-maker Sue Bourne about whether the interviewees thought they drank too much, the film didn’t attempt to judge. It was simply a road trip around some Red Lion pubs showing us just how much the British do love to drink.
I am fairly well acquainted with the world of drinkers and pubs, for various reasons. And on the evidence of last night’s programme we have nothing to fear but alcoholism itself. Viva Friday night.
