The result is a gripping and entertaining high-production-value program often with quite profound philosophical content. The good doctor in these programs is a kind of Superman --- a celestial fixer, traveling through space and time, usually with an earthling female companion, attending to problems as they occur throughout the universe.

But a recent installment of Dr. Who contained a horrifying Orwellian vision of the future. It is set in the United Kingdom some time around 2300. By this time, the life of the whole population of the country revolved completely around popular television quiz shows and reality-TV programs. All the well-known and much-loved TV programs as we know them today --- Who wants to be a Superstar?, Big Brother, The Weakest Link --- were represented. Anne Robinson, the transatlantic celebrity quizmaster, was also fronting this futuristic version of The Weakest Link program. The difference between today's version of the program and the program of 2300 was that this Anne Robinson was a robot --- and the losing contestants were not simply asked to leave the program, but were annihilated: scattered into millions of atoms. Gradually, it became evident that members of the public were being pressured by the thought police to take part in the TV competitions to fight for their lives. And the whole viewing nation greatly enjoyed this.

What I like about British television is that, so far, it has not lost its capacity for critical self-reflection. It is exactly the opposite --- a lack of any critical self-reflection --- that I despise in the Czech media. What they publish does not usually amount to anything more than a big self-promotion campaign. In fact, the major Czech daily newspapers have an unwritten agreement never to criticize each other. Their editors will normally not allow a critical assessment of an article printed in any other newspaper. "If we did this, our competitors would retaliate by criticizing us, and we cannot start what amounts to a trade war!" they protest.

And why not? Why cannot we have meta-criticism of the media in the media? Why does there have to be a cartel of media conspirators that pretends everything the media produces is marvelous? Have you ever seen public-service Česká televize or commercial TV Nova denigrate one of its own programs in a broadcast?

The monolithic, overwhelmingly positive consensus in the Czech media about "What a great job we are doing" is reminiscent of communist totalitarianism under the so-called normalization of the 1970s and 1980s in Czechoslovakia. It is, of course, strengthened today by commercial interests. And the Czech public seems to be lapping it up. Or is it?

Why doesn't anyone ever say publicly that TV projects such as The Greatest Czech on Česká televize or Who Wants to Be a SuperStar on TV Nova are soul-destroying programs? I am not advocating that these programs should be banned --- but why is there no critical debate about their potential impact? We could do with a little introspection like that offered by the BBC in broadcasting a program that seems to be horrified both by what it is broadcasting itself and the programs of other broadcasters.

Originally published in Czech Business Weekly HERE