Yeats asked, "Why should not old men be mad?" In his final broadcast for A Point of View James gives an answer. His granddaughter and her friends are bouncing on the furniture, and James looks back on his own childhood to a time when the modern world was at its worst and countless millions "died pointlessly for the fulfilment of idle political dreams". Wise enough to know how lucky we are to grow old at all, let alone to do so in peace, James reflects: 

 There should be pride in it, that you behaved no worse. There should be gratitude, that you were allowed to get this far. And above all there should be no bitterness. The opposite, in fact. The future is no less sweet because you won't be there. The children will be there, taking their turn on earth. In consideration of them, we should refrain from pessimism, no matter how well founded that grim feeling might seem.

 This broadcast is one of the most beautiful things James has written. In the twilight of his career the brilliant young man dangling a Disque Bleu from his mouth to look like Albert Camus is achieving a rare feat: a finish worthy of the start.