Film night

I tell the children, I have been wrestling with my soul over Family Fun Film Night.

Should it be the four hundredth screening of Ice Age? Hmm. Or, children, should it be Henry V (The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France (Dir. Laurence Olivier, 1944)?

I say it's a tough one, this call between what the children want (slumpish Friday night entertainment) and what mama wants (a dedication to her children's life-long erudition).

But you saw it coming, didn't you? The gritlets lose. Of course they do. I claim the final tip on the balance is The Hollow Crown starting tomorrow night on BBC2. I've already marked it as a must-watch and made Dig come home from Hong Kong early so he could make the incalcitrant TV behave. And I have tickets for the gritlets at the Globe to see Henry V on stage. I say that tilts my decision, too. Then I promise to compensate for the loss of Ice Age by my usual helpful injection of Co-op pancakes.

But to their credit (and my amazement) the mini grits stay the course with Olivier. I would like to claim it was not the Co-op pancakes but my 'One-hour introduction to Henry V' performed dramatically at the tea table before pressing play on the video recorder.

(Have I read it? No. Of course I haven't. But sometimes that ex-English teachery job comes in handy.)