Catholics BBC 4

I really couldn’t miss this. It would be like missing mass, only much worse, because this is BBC 4 and they put this programme on for me. I recognise the iconography, the statues, the Virgin Marys, the pictures of Bernadette Souberous ( not sure if that’s how you spell her name). I think there was also a picture of …oh, I can’t remember his name…A Man for all Seasons. There were some interesting facts. It costs £20K a year to educate these men. It takes four years minimum before they can make a pledge to become a priest. They sign an agreement, like a consent form, saying I’m not daft and my mum never forced me, cross my heart and…But they all look so very, very earnest. Nice but dim. There was one man who had working class credentials. He looked as if he had a life before. It’s one long slog. There’s another three weeks. Three series. I wonder if we’ll find out who’s got the stash of porn under their dorm bed. Oh, that’s so old hat. It’s all computers now. Forty students. 20K a year. A priest’s life is a gamble. My money’s on nice but dim. Which one? They all look the same. Don’t they?