The old television series 'Minder' might not have been the greatest drama ever, but it was great fun and even now the reruns on the Gold channel are worth watching; George Cole was brilliant as the dodgy Arthur Daley with his sidekick, Terry, played by Dennis Waterman.

The recent death at the age of 74 of Waterman, reminded us of a great era of television.

A different era, too, with his obituary describing him as “a man’s man, who loved football, cricket and golf….. and a womaniser for whom pubs were almost place of pilgrimages".

Today, if you’re not into quizzes, cookery, mending old furniture or people acting in a banal fashion which is supposed to be “reality”, then there’s not much in the tv schedules and no wonder we’re turning to streaming channels such as Netflix. Though there are still some really good dramas on television.

But wait, before we get too nostalgic let’s not forget that the good old 1970s had Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and some truly awful racism, sexism and homophobia in shows like 'On The Buses'.

So maybe television has moved on and we’re at least starting to move away from some of the old prejudices.

Have we, though, replaced it with ageism?

An article recently entitled: 'Why does television treat us oldies with disdain'? revealed a survey which showed that the over-50s are the most under-represented section on our screens.

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And how does society in general treat older people?

This week, Census figures for Northern Ireland showed that the population has now hit 1.9 million. But the population increase was greatest in the older age groups.

A spokesman said: “The number of people aged 65 or more rose by more than 60,000 to nearly one third of a million people – a near 25 per cent increase on 2011.”

“This demonstrates the scale of population change due to ageing. This looks set to continue as the baby boom generation of the 1950s and 1960s reach retirement age,” he said.

I was looking through some old family photos recently for a project and found one of my Granda Woods; he was the man who nurtured my love of football, bringing me to matches as a wee boy and I still remember him incredibly fondly as kind and good fun.

But the photo reminded me that I thought of him as an older man and he certainly looked that way in the pic; until it hit me that he was then in his early 60s, younger than I am now!

These days, people getting older are generally in much better health; it’s not just advances in medicine and treatment, but greater knowledge of health issues means they look after themselves better in terms of diet and exercise and seem to approach life in a much more positive frame of mind.

Does society recognise the valuable part that older people can play, or indeed do we value older people as much as we should? Someone once joked that Shakespeare was wrong when he wrote about the Seven Ages of Man, from infancy to old age. He’s wrong I was told, there’s only three: Youth, middle age and…."you’re looking well.!”

Amusing, yes, but does it portray a patronising attitude to people as they get older?

The scandalous way the authorities treated people in care homes with Covid would suggest that those people were expendable.

And with inflation running towards 10 per cent, the British Government increased already meagre pensions by just three per cent.

Last week, I was writing about Wigan couple Godfrey Ward, aged 77, and his wife, Jeanette who worked hard all their lives to afford their own home.

But their combined weekly pensions don’t cover their bills, and Godfrey says: “We’ve had two bad winters and luckily we’ve got through it. But I don’t think we’ll survive another one.”

This is no way to treat people who have worked hard all their lives and can still contribute to their communities.

There are high-profile examples of how older people bring their wisdom and experience.

Earlier this month, David Attenborough celebrated his 96th birthday and the man who has educated us about the joys of the world is as sharp and witty as ever. He is a marvellous example of a life well lived and still contributes to highlighting the need for conservation and looking after our planet.

Next week, Britain celebrates the Queen’s platinum jubilee when she will be 70 years on the British throne. She is also 96 years old and still remarkably active despite cutting back a little recently.

I’m not a Royalist at all, but there are many in Britain and Northern Ireland who are and many of them are heading for a parade in Belfast on Saturday which, to be honest, is probably as much about demonstrating their Britishness as well as paying tribute to the Queen personally.

Her wealth of experience and the personal affection she’s held in by those people is, though, both a strength and weakness.

What happens to the Royal Family in Britain when she is no longer on its throne?

She will be succeeded by Prince Charles, already 73 and at age when many others are regarded as past it. He certainly won’t be held in the same esteem as his mother, and he will struggle to be the head of a dysfunctional family with Andrew’s disgrace and Harry’s exile.

More so, the role of the Monarchy will come under further scrutiny in a modern society, and those in Northern Ireland clinging to Royalty will not feel the same towards the new dispensation.

Perhaps a 96 year old does have a lot to contribute after all.

The tendency for the marketing men and society generally is to focus on youth. And rightly so; they have so much to contribute and today’s youth are inspirational in many ways.

Just don’t dump the old fogeys and the value they have just yet, just because of the date on their birth certificate.