Leaping into the Lakes
HOW would you describe the view from your living room window? What exactly can you see? A park? A postbox? A pub? An ordinary residential street? The Golden Bengal Tandoori, serving mouthwatering Indian cuisine since 1975?
Paul Rose can see the Central Fells, lying to the east of Borrowdale in the Lake District.
Well, bully for Paul Rose, you may be thinking. However don’t let’s begrudge him that joy because this former Antarctic base commander and tireless adventurer seems an awfully affable chap and engaging company, as confirmed by his latest four-part travel series.
I say “travel”, but the fact that it’s called THE LAKES WITH PAUL ROSE (BBC2, 8.30pm) means he hasn’t exactly bust a gut with this one, distance-wise.
He’s actually lived in the Lake District for 20 years (albeit heading off from there for countless far-flung excursions), and in just a matter of minutes is able to amble to the shores of Windermere, the biggest such expanse of water in England.
Yet that’s not to say there isn’t plenty Paul can still discover on his local patch. In this opening programme it’s Windermere that’s his main focus, “the beating heart of the Lakeland tourist industry”.
During the programme he learns how it became such a hit with visitors (the Lake District attracts 18 million a year) and seeks out attractions and events of which some may be unaware.
If you fancy a bit of open water swimming, for instance, where better? Apparently, it’s one of the most popular centres in the country for those who prefer their swims outdoorsy and, er, bracing.
Entering into the spirit, perhaps just a tad apprehensively, Paul (right) dons some natty figurehugging trunks and goes for a dip with one woman, Becky Lewis from Barrow.
She calculates she’s swum the length of Windermere at least 60 times, including four lengths non-stop just a few weeks back. Windermere, bear in mind, is around 11 miles long.
However it wouldn’t be a proper Friday, of course, without another peep at THE BIG AUDITION (ITV, 9pm), the show where real-life people go for real-life jobs, mostly of the showbizzy kind.
This week there’s a vacancy for a presenter on TV shopping channel Create And Craft, a media role at the MOBO Awards, plus a panto dame’s part up for grabs, so to speak, in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs in Blackburn.
Among those going for the latter, is first-time auditioner Richard, who admits his early showbiz ambitions became sidetracked. “My dream of being a pop star,” he tells us, “turned into, ‘Ooh, I’ll be an area manger of the Little Chef,’ because you got a Ford Sierra as a company car.” Elsewhere tonight, THE GADGET SHOW (Channel 5, 7pm) visits the village of Great Snoring in Norfolk. Co-host Jon Bentley wants to compare the filming capabilities of three rival smartphones and, with plans to shoot a “thrilling promotional video”, has clearly been unable to resist its comedy potential. No doubt the locals can barely contain their own mirth at the whole situation.