Queen And Country (BBC1)

THE country today seems only distantly related to the one Queen Elizabeth inherited when she came to the throne, one contributor observes in the first of writer and presenter William Shawcross's six-part examination of the monarch's changing role over the past 50 years.

Hardly an earth-shattering revelation but then this opener doesn't have much to say that's new. But there's nothing wrong with that as the programme covers old ground with a deft touch using archive footage (including the queen-to-be serving at a jumble sale) alongside the recollections of prime ministers, the Princess Royal and the Queen's servants. Most enlightening of all, perhaps, are the contributions from her subjects - those she said she would always serve as laid down in the vows taken at her coronation.

Virutally no one has a bad word to say about her. "Smashing lady - just like me mum," sums up one man. But we are reminded of the awful trouble that Lord Altrincham encountered in 1957 when he dared to criticise her speeches. A pain in the neck, he called them, feeling that the words were more suited to her "tweedy entourage" than to a young woman. He received a punch in the face from an outraged member of the public for daring to comment.

Times change and the Queen has changed with them, sometimes so subtly that observers haven't noticed until long after. The 1969 fly-on-the-palace-wall documentary Royal Family was the start of the royals coming out from behind closed doors, followed by the first royal walkabout the next year. Over the past decade, the fire at Windsor Castle, the divorces of her three children and the public outpouring of grief following the death of Diana had all marked turning points as the monarchy has adjusted to changing attitudes.

People no longer leap to their feet whenever the national anthem is played although, as eyewitnesses testified, the public still go out of their way just to get a glimpse of the Queen. It's still something special, even if the role of the monarchy is being constantly renewed to keep pace with a changing society.

Most think she's made a good job of a difficult occupation. As one admirer pointed out, she has to be a woman, a mother, the head of state and the head of the church all rolled into one. It's a job description few could live up to in the face of constant scrutiny.