Lights, camera, just popping next door

Channel 4 are showing a Cutting Edge documentary called My street on Thursday 21 February 2008 at 9pm.

After 14 years of living on the same road Sue knew practically none of her neighbours. Intrigued by what stories might lie on her own doorstep, she began knocking on the 116 doors on her street and meeting some of the 300 people who are her neighbours.

Or you could organise a street party. Try to stifle the allegations of cheap programme-making, nothing wrong with that, and it looks like a good initiative.

I'm more curious about this as another example of the grudgingly slow recognition by the media and politicians that, as forces associated with globalisation stretch their influence ever thinner, there's often something quite interesting at local level that the rest of us are already talking about. It sounds as if the programme may be almost confessional in that respect.

More here, including a clip with this comment from Sue Bourne, the director:

I didn't find a huge sense of community and neighbourliness but there were pockets of it...

It will be interesting to see whether the programme spends any time exploring why this is; whether it is as widespread as my forthcoming Age Concern review suggests; the factors that explain why she knew so few of her neghbours in the first place; and to what extent it matters.