The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson

Consequently, until recently, I had no knowledge or interest in the renowned musician and English teacher, Wilko Johnson. And yet, in spite of the best efforts of Dickensian, Downton Abbey, and even Shaun the Sheep, for me, the best Christmas TV of 2015 was The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson – a BBC documentary on the impending death of the ‘Dr Feelgood’ guitarist. In fact the narrative, which commences days after Wilko discovers he has '10 months to live' and dramatically concludes with a life-saving operation, is enthralling! The documentary is beautifully filmed and replete with captivating quotes on mortality from Chaucer to Milton. However, in a TV season where the options usually lie between an ‘Elfish’ Will Ferrell and a ‘Grinchy’ Jim Carrey, it was the gritty interviews with wordsmith Wilko that made the show most endorsable.

I am no pancreatic cancer surgeon. I am no fan of 70’s punk. I am no literature alumna.

Poignant highlights

In the opening credits I imagined feeling the most compassion for Wilko when he described his ‘worst days’ – days of chemotherapy and post-operation melancholy. Yet the most heart-breaking moments for me were in Wilko’s ‘better days’. For then the notion of 'waking up everyday and remembering that I’m dying' seemingly caused him to care less about others and more about fleeting earthly pleasures. Hence the programme reminded me of the importance of not only pastoring our fellow brothers and sisters when physical pain is at its height, but watching the terminally ill during their ‘better days,’ when there is perhaps every temptation to become self-absorbed, maybe even hedonistic.

The second striking aspect was Wilko’s boldness in death that went beyond mere rock star bravado. At one point the atheist smiles and asserts, 'I’m not frightened of hell. I don’t believe in God. I’ll just return to oblivion.' An annihilationist view he reinforces with some Hamlet – 'To die… to sleep... to dream.' Hence the documentary reminded me of the increasing need to challenge the confidence of modern unbelieving friends who sadly face death with a fear of the process, but with no fear of the frighteningly just God whom they will face at the end of it.

We will all die sooner or later

Perhaps above all, though, the programme reminded me of the importance of remembering that all of us will die soon. In fact for all of Wilko’s hedonism and swaggering unbelief the man, notorious for holding a guitar like a machine gun, spoke with alarming eloquence and wisdom at times. 'We’re so wrapped up in our lives… it takes the immediacy of death to knock some sense into our heads… you just get one shot' were just some of the truths from a man, who believed he had days to live.

Accordingly, if it’s still on BBC iplayer (available here until 25 January, 2016) why not detoxify from some seasonal schmaltziness with the The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson – for in his own words, 'death is something that everyone has to face up to.'