In the worst production values in many years, M-Net's weekly current affairs magazine show Carte Blanche on Sunday at 19:00 had more dogs barking than what you could almost actually hear people talk, when Derek Watts interviewed the parents of the killed Reeva Steenkamp, Barry and June Steenkamp.
In the terribly bad interview from a production point of view, spliced into a bigger story about Oscar Pistorius killing Reeva Steenkamp, Derek Watts made it into the living room of the Sea View home in Port Elizabeth of Barry and June Steenkamp last Wednesday.
There was clearly no "do overs" here, with incessant barking of dogs which for me terribly spoiled the interview. A South African journalist based in New York who saw it on Sunday also incredulously, without me even talking about it, SMS'ed me and asked: "What on Earth is up with all of the dogs and the barking? It's so bad."
The interview itself wasn't very long. Is that all Carte Blanche got or was the rest simply unusable I wondered to myself. Carte Blanche even faded out over Barry Steenkamp talking and his mouth moving. What he was saying was completely inaudible to the viewer.
This latest Carte Blanche episode is available to view on DStv on Demand until Sunday afternoon in which a grim-faced Derek Watts talks to a very emotional Barry Steenkamp who can hardly speak and June Steenkamp who is also emotionally distraught and on the verge of crying judged by her vocal tone.
As a TV critic I didn't get any forewarning or notification before Sunday from M-Net - and I asked others and neither did they - that Carte Blanche had the Steenkamp parents' first TV interview exclusive. In fact the whole episode and even a Twitter insert was all about the Oscar Pistorius killing scandal saga.
I noticed it late on Sunday afternoon on the DStv EPG but by then it was to late to try and write something or do anything about it.
Of course as the world works, then the BBC and the New York Post suddenly called me on Sunday about it. I was out with friends, but luckily had set a recording, and rushed home to watch it in order to talk on the BBC about the Carte Blanche must-watch footage I almost didn't even know about and to help the newspaper.
