The BBC producer Adam Curtis is putting the finishing touches to a film that bemoans the increasing dominance of individuality and the death of the 'grand narratives'.

"What we now have is a cacophany of individual narratives, everyone wants to be the author of their own lives no one wants to be part of a bigger story... But you need a collective, not individual narrative to achieve change," explains Curtis.

He is optimistic however. A grand new narrative - with the capacity to generate the common narratives of idealism and morality - will emerge that might bring reinvigorated moral purpose.

A spokesman for the BBC later emphasised the following (presumably): Adam Curtis is not denying that 'individualism' and 'the free market'  are themselves effectively narratives - Nothing could be further from the truth... And conversely, the viewing public should remember that Curtis's film is not itself part of any 'grand narrative'. His opinions and his outlook are his own and in no way reflect the views of the Corporation as a whole.