So, rest in peace (some would say), O J Simpson. His, by common consent, was “the trial of the century” in 1995 when he was cleared of the murder of his second wife and her friend.
Rarely if ever can such a huge global audience have so keenly awaited a verdict, with one of the highest viewing figures in the history of television - just as, in the previous year, an estimated 95 million people had watched live that famous two-hour police chase.
A by-product of the outcome was a fresh round of BBC bias allegations – yes, that debate was going strong even then.
The trial verdict was delivered just hours before BBC1’s Six O’Clock News. The verdict simply had to be the first item, didn’t it? What else could possibly be in contention?
Alas, the dear old Beeb thought differently, choosing to lead – at considerable length, too – with that day’s speech by T Blair Esq, who was not even Prime Minister yet, at the Labour Party Conference!
Among the criticism that ensued was a strongly-worded letter of complaint published in the Radio Times from Yours Truly, no less.
Wow, I still shudder to think how the powers-that-be at Broadcasting House must have quaked in their boots at that!
I tell you, it was my proudest moment in letter-writing. I’ve had a few published elsewhere, too, in my time.
However, to my intense frustration, I am still awaiting my debut on the Daily Telegraph letters page after 50-odd years of trying!
And that’s in contrast to my Dad, who made it into the DT twice, to say nothing of “Mick Ferrie of Mawnan Smith,” who, it sometimes seems, is an almost weekly presence.
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