Desperate Romantics

In olden times when artists were artists, not pretentious cowgirls, and a nubile English girl was a rose, not a foul-mouthed knife-wielding ghetto thug, a group of artists dissatisfied with the formulaic art of the Establishment created the finest art movement this country has ever produced: The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Even their preliminary sketches were magnificent, example shown: John William Waterhouse' Study for Lady Clare. Now BBC2 threatens to vomit a facile six-part melodrama upon this superb group with Desperate Romantics. Even the title makes me cringe. But get this quote from one of Auntie's mindless spokeswomen: the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were like "the boy band of the 19th century"! The executive producer, Kate Harwood, is just as bad. She likens them to "the punks a hundred years later"! Why does Auntie employ such twits? Female emancipation? Is there nobody in charge with any discernment or artistic taste? No wonder English culture is sliding down the plughole. Descendants, get ready to sue.