THE SUMMER OF LOVE: HOW HIPPIES CHANGED THE WORLD, BBC4, 9pm

IF I thought about hippies at all, I’d think of flowers and sweat and matted hair, camper vans and guitars. Nothing very desirable or glorious, so what’s the big deal?

Well, I read an article yesterday which made me whimper with longing for the short but sunny part of life they inhabited.

The story spoke of them being given the grants and freedom to study (or not), and then having their pick of decent jobs to stroll into (or not). The important thing is that the “or not” crowd weren’t condemned as shelf-stacking, work-shy, food-bank haunting dole scum. For someone raised in the 1980s, the life they describe is unthinkable, even mythical.

This two-part documentary starts by tracing the roots of the hippie revolution, beginning with 19th-century German philosophy which merged with Eastern mysticism, student protests, Californian sunshine and LSD.

How grey, stressed and worn out we all seem by comparison.

 

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, NETFLIX

IF orange is the new black, is blackmail the new publicity? Everyone must know, whether they watch it or not, that this prison drama was due to return after it was all over the news that some hackers pinched the new series.

They tried to blackmail Netflix by saying they’d release the show online unless the company paid up.

Netflix refused and the hackers leaked the series, but few cared. Netflix simply nudged the release date forward, asking fans to hold out just a little longer and they could watch it in its full glory.

So it seems Netflix won. The hackers got nothing. Netflix got a load of publicity. Nice work!

The new series shows the aftermath of the prison riot which was kicking off as last season ended, and we see how the prisoners try to use the chaos to campaign for better treatment.