It’s right on the money
DO THEY still do that thing on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen where they invite viewers to phone in with questions for the guest chefs? I’m assuming they probably do. To be honest, I’ve barely watched it since James Martin left. I much prefer the Saturday morning show James does for ITV these days, partly because we get to meet his dogs (all right, mostly because of that) but also because it isn’t live.
Live TV is obviously tremendous in a lot of respects but sometimes it can get a bit carried away with its own, oh, what’s the word, liveness.
The worst example is when producers think: “Hey, we could get viewers to phone in with their questions, live on air! Wouldn’t that be exciting?” No, it wouldn’t. As Saturday Kitchen has repeatedly demonstrated, this merely attracts the sort of people who want to hear themselves on TV and so have dreamt up some ridiculous question in order to boost the chances of this happening.
“Oh, hello, yes, I’m wondering if any of your guest chefs can help me. I’ve just come back from the supermarket with half an organic aardvark and I’m not sure whether to barbecue or roast it… Also, I’d like to say hello to everyone who knows me.”
So are we in for something not dissimilar tonight, I wonder, in THE MARTIN LEWIS SHOW LIVE (ITV, 8pm) as viewers are invited to contact the show directly with any questions they have of a financial nature? It’s hard to conclude otherwise.
Still, there are few things I enjoy more on an otherwise quiet Tuesday evening than shouting: “Why not just google it, you numpty?” at my television set. So I’m very much looking forward to it.
Also Martin (right) and co-host Angellica Bell will be looking ahead to Black Friday and telling us where they think the best bargains are likely to be.
Elsewhere, competing on the latest episode of I’LL GET THIS (BBC2, 10pm) we have Janet Street-Porter, Griff Rhys Jones, Scarlett Moffatt, Adil Ray and Angela Scanlon.
The idea of the show, if you’ve yet to watch it, is that each week’s gaggle of celebrities meets up for a posh restaurant meal during which they play a series of games (parlour games, that is, rather than, say, badminton). The loser at the end of the evening then has to foot the full bill.
Tonight’s tots up to £515. They all agree this is a lot of money, although Scarlett’s reaction seems a little odd.
“That’s a holiday!” she cries. Well, yes, it certainly could be. But I can’t help thinking Scarlett’s days of taking £500 holidays are some way behind her now. Twenty minutes earlier we’ve seen her order a £50 steak. Also tonight, the remaining teams on LEGO MASTERS (C4, 8pm) are fighting, albeit not literally, for a place in the semi-final. To stand a chance of getting there, they must each use their bricks to build a fully functioning crazy golf hole, complete with putter. However barmy you consider this show to be, I challenge you to watch and not be wowed.