THE veteran broadcaster John Humphrys has delivered a withering verdict on British television while giving the annual MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival.

The presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme attacked the “mind-numbing, witless vulgarity” of reality shows such as Big Brother and lamented the levels of violence in soaps, particularly in EastEnders.

“The good television of today is probably better than the best television of the old days,” he said.

“But the bad television of today is worse. It is not only bad. It is damaging. Meretricious. Seedy. Cynical.

“What about the effects of reality television on society as a whole? It does a number of things. It erodes the distinction between the public and the private, which is a profoundly important aspect of our culture.

“Much more worrying is its coarsening effect. That’s partly because of the sheer vulgarity. But it’s even more that it turns human beings into freaks for us to gawp at.”

Humphrys, 60, said that he had not watched television in five years — his old set broke and he never replaced it. But in preparation for the lecture he asked the 16 channel controllers each to send him ten programmes that they were most proud of.

He said that his viewing had left him deeply concerned at the state of British television, which had changed greatly in the past five years.

“Call me a timid little soul, but I was actually quite shocked by some of what I saw when I came out of my Rip Van Winkle state,” he said. “So much of it seemed not just vulgar and obsessed with sex, but altogether more confrontational than I’d remembered.

“I’ve worked in newsrooms all my life and I’ve been known to use the odd curse myself, but the violence of the language surprised me.

“It seemed almost impossible to switch on without encountering some sort of aggression, even in the soaps.”

EastEnders, in particular, was filled with aggression.

“Of course they’re meant to deal the currency of social realism, but is everything really quite as grim and violent as they portray it? “Characters in EastEnders seemed never to walk past each other with a smile and a nod (as they sometimes do in real life, even in the East End of London) but with a snarl and a threat.

“They couldn’t share a quiet cup of tea without the cup being thrown against the wall or their companion. I’m exaggerating a bit, but not much.”

Humphrys said that he would not like his young children to watch the soap, but was surprised to find that many other parents had no such qualms.

However, it was reality television that caused Humphrys most concern.

“This is not just bad television in the sense that it’s mediocre, pointless, puerile even. It’s bad because it is damaging.” Reality television is not even deserving of the name, he said. “Reality implies authenticity and honesty. And whatever some of the stuff may be, it is not authentic and it is not honest.”

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