Blood and Gold: The Making of Spain with Simon Sebag Montefiore

This small serie of three episodes is not objective nor does it reflect the history of Spain. The presenter tells what he wants, how he wants, without any historical rigor. Total nonsense. In his presentation he says that he will travel through the most beautiful places in Spain. Well, not even a single cathedral or monastery, Segovia, Burgos, Santiago de Compostela, Zaragoza, Merida, Toledo, Valladolid, Santander, Aranjuez, La Granja, Salamanca... even appears or quotes. This man should read something about it before speaking. Surely he has been comfortable with what he says, but would not pass any subject in the history of Spain. Anyone who sees and listen to this serie will have a wrong and confusing vision of the history of Spain What makes me sadder is that he bears the seal of an institution like the BBC. Insn't it a pity? Isn't it a shame?

While some people might take exception to the presence of Sebag Montefiore on screen throughout this fascinating series on Spain (and the others he presents on Rome, Istanbul and Jerusalem), the whole point of his programmes - like his books - is to showcase a remarkable, erudite, and idiosyncratic approach to his subjects. No TV series can ever be wholly comprehensive - they would otherwise be a longwinded and tedious history lesson. Instead these TV series are authored, original, enjoyable and highly personal journeys. I imagine this is what the director set out to achieve, with great success.

I managed to get through episode one by virtue of the wonderful filming, but half way through the second episode, I had to throw in the towel. Whatever was Marion Milne thinking? Virtually every frame was ruined by the presence of Simon Sebag strolling through it in a mixture of uncomfortable arrogance and am-dram awkwardness, acompanied by an irritating, affected voice. This seems to be the case with so many documentaries, wherein the presenter becomes more visible than the subject matter. Frankly, in a documentary, there is no need for anything other than the presenter's voice. This is in no way a sight on Simon, as I'm sure he was just following direction.

As a side-note, having lived and worked in Madrid for 15 years and being fluent in Castellano, I can say that the Spanish have both a remarkable knowledge of their own history, and an almost exaggerated sense of national pride, having come through a pretty traumatic history; past and recent. I have hiked over 17,000 kilometers of their terrain using there network of routes and spoken to many, many people in every corner of the Peninsular. I would certainly take seriously any Spaniard that took umbrage at any part of the historical data presented.

Nonetheless, beautiful filming by Craig Hastings and team.