Screen burn

Beyond belief

Charlie Brooker can't quite believe his eyes: not one but two intelligent, absorbing and compelling programmes on the telly

Belief is an incredibly powerful thing. It can save lives or start wars. It can lead one man to dress as a monk and serve Christ, and lead another to dress as a monkey and kill prostitutes (on behalf of Christ).

It's the most potent force on Earth, which is why it's such a bummer we can't harness it and use it for something worthwhile, like powering vehicles. Imagine how useful a belief-fuelled car would be - it'd only break down if you stopped believing it worked in the first place (so the only people who'd need to call out the AA ever again would be extreme sceptics or smart-arse philosophers).

There's plenty of belief and disbelief in the schedules this week, starting with the second part of Jonathan Miller's Brief History Of Disbelief (Mon, 9.30pm, BBC4), a rough guide to atheism and a welcome blast of common sense.

Clever, amusing, absorbing, and incredibly watchable without resorting to any of the usual slam-bang pop-doc techniques, this is not just a breath of fresh air, it's as bracing as sticking your head out the window of a speeding, solar-powered car. While smoking a menthol cigarette.

Then there's The Power Of Nightmares (Wed, 9pm, BBC2), which really ought to be watched by absolutely everyone in the world. Seriously. It's like someone coming along with a hose and washing all the bullshit off your screen.

What is it? It's a compelling three-part documentary about the misuse of fear: about deliberate exaggeration by the powers that be, and a population kept docile through sheer terror. It's like Orwell's 1984, in other words, but unfortunately it's real (which is terrifying in itself, ironically enough). Watch it, watch it, watch it.

And then there's something that simply beggars (and buggers) belief, in the form of Hex (Sun, 9pm, Sky One). Hex is "fantasy ", which by definition ought to hover somewhere around the outer fringes of belief, but sadly the "fantasy " element is the least far-fetched thing about it. For starters, it's a cross between (deep breath) Buffy, As If, Hollyoaks, Randall And Hopkirk Deceased, Carrie, Harry Potter and Footballers' Wives.

If that sounds incomprehensible, blame Hex, not me. I've watched the pilot, and I'm not entirely sure what happened - although I think it's about this girl at an improbably huge boarding school who finds an old pot that gives her telekinetic powers, and has something to do with a sinister guy who keeps turning up and staring a lot. There's also a ghost in it.

Oh, and a lot of sex talk. The script makes two common-yet-incorrect assumptions. 1: that teenagers talk about sex as often as they think about it, and 2: that watching teenagers yapping about boobs and willies and shagging ad nauseum is even faintly entertaining. Every line refers to either a sex act, or a vague supernatural occurrence, or both (by episode three, they'll be fighting off ghosts with dildos).

We're also expected to believe that main character Cassie is a shy, mousy wallflower, ignored by boys - even though she's played by a girl (Christina Cole) who could turn heads in a spinal injury ward. Since she's a wallflower, Cassie's the only person in the school who doesn't relentlessly bang on about sex, which is probably why they've included a scene in which she takes a shower for no reason whatsoever, thereby affording us a quick gawp at her boobs to make up for it.

Ultimately, Hex seems designed to appeal solely to tiresome teenage goth girls and/or masturbating idiots - in short, an audience who've taken leave of their senses.

Before I go -a fortnight ago, while reviewing BBC4's (superb) City Of Men, I said there was little a concerned viewer could do to ease the plight of Brazilian slum kids short of boarding a plane and flying out to help in person. Well, a charity called Task Brasil got in touch to point out otherwise: visit and you can make a donation or sponsor a child. That's my good deed for the year. Next week - more slagging.

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