From the sublime to the ridiculous

Yesterday began with a couple of local radio interviews.

I was invited to discuss a comment by Professor John Britton, a leading anti-smoking campaigner, that was broadcast in last night's BBC2 documentary Burning Desire: The Seduction of Smoking.

According to Britton, the price of cigarettes should be raised to £20 a pack.

The two interviews could not have been more different. On BBC Cumbria I was on with Andrea Crossfield, director of Tobacco Free Futures, and it was a perfect example of a well-balanced item with the presenter giving both of us ample time to make our points while he remained inquisitive but strictly impartial.

BBC Cambridgeshire was a different matter. Standing in for the regular breakfast presenter, Chris Mann interviewed Alison Cox of Cancer Research UK, then me. Cox was allowed to speak uninterrupted but when it was my turn I had to fight a running battle with Mann who made his anti-smoking views very clear.

Alternatively he is a smoker (or ex-smoker) and was over-compensating, which does happen.

When I protested and said he hadn't interrupted Cox, he replied, "That's because she answered my questions." Unfair and untrue. I was trying to answer his questions but he wouldn't let me without interrupting!!!!

An hour or so later I jumped in the car with my wife and daughter and drove to Ragdale Hall Health Hydro near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.

This former country house specialises in "luxury spa breaks". My wife gave me a gift voucher for Christmas and we booked our "relaxing pamper day" several months ago to coincide with half-term.

I had to do another interview – with BBC Radio Humberside – just as we arrived but after that I switched off my phone and threw myself into the experience.

Actually, that's not strictly true. Apart from a "miracle facial", a dip in the "candle pool" and a paddle in the outdoor "waterfall" and lazy river, I spent most of the day eating, drinking or simply reading in one of the many quiet areas (Lounge, Garden Room, Pavilion).

To my wife's displeasure I had my iPad with me so I was never completely out of contact with Planet Earth but there was no wi-fi and electronic devices were not encouraged, shall we say. (I didn't hear a mobile phone ring all day, which was nice.)

Instead we were invited to shed our worldly clothes and stroll around in voluminous white bathrobes.

Lunch and dinner menus featured a calorie code and it was extraordinary how I was attracted, like a moth to a light bulb, by the higher calorie options.

Lunch was an all-you-can-eat buffet. Fortunately I still had room for a large slice of Victoria sponge with my afternoon tea.

Naively we kept our bathrobes on for dinner only to find that 90 per cent of guests, some of whom were staying the night, were fully dressed.

We eventually got home at 10.30 at which point I sat down and watched Burning Desire: The Seduction of Smoking, the first of Peter Taylor's two-part documentary (see previous posts).

Never did the expression "from the sublime to the ridiculous" seem more apt.

I'm not going to review it but I may comment later. In the meantime, the Independent's description of the programme ("A compelling investigation into Big Tobacco's secrets and lies") tells you everything you need to know.

Biased? The BBC? Surely not.