The rich are bad, the poor are good, we are all obsessed with blind dates and clothes are really important.
These are the important lessons that can be learnt from television in the next few weeks.
Our first television preview for July is firmly rooted in the political and social system characterised by social ownership and democratic control of the means of production.
Yes - we are talking socialism.
An Inspector Calls, on Sky's Vibe channel at 8.30pm on July 5, is a television version of the play written by English dramatist J.B. Priestley.
Priestley was an English author, novelist, playwright and socialist who loved classical music.
They don't make men like that any more.
An Inspector Calls was first performed in 1945 in the Soviet Union and is considered to be one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre.
Set in 1912 over the course of one night, it centres on the prosperous Birling family, factory owners and upper-class bad eggs.
They drink port at dinner, pash off behind closed doors and say things such as "nonsense Mummy'' and "Ha! You're squiffy''.
The play was, of course, written well after World War 1, so Priestley could put lines in the mouths of the Birlings that make them look very poor at predicting the future, such as, "There's not going to be a war. The Germans don't want a war any more than we do.''
The family is celebrating a forthcoming wedding that would link two families of awful capitalists, when the maid comes to tell them a police inspector has called.
Enter Inspector Goole (David Thewlis), a man of erect bearing, sharp mind and liberal doses of suspicion, and the dark secrets of the family and their relationship to the death of a young woman from a working-class family who headed an industrial dispute at the factory begin to come to light.
Very watchable, and very well imbued with the political ideologies of the mid-20th century.
In the meantime, you can entertain yourself with dating shows.
First Dates UK is the latest in the awful genre that films said dates. It starts next Monday on TV2.
It is followed by Strip Date, on TV2 on June 24.
Strip Date is not, sadly, dating in the nude, no matter how much it probably should be.
The show is hosted by Vicky Pattison, an English television personality best known for appearing on Geordie Shore.
Strip Date's slightly stupid point of difference is to make two single people decide on the sort of outfit and makeover their blind date should have that would make them their dream date.
Then they go on a date.
Crazy, I know, but you might be able to watch it for more than the three minutes I could manage.
- by Charles Loughrey
