A-grade drama returns
BACK tonight for a third series is Peter Bowker’s fine domestic drama THE A WORD (BBC1, 9pm), starring Morven Christie and Lee Ingleby as the parents of a boy with autism. Joe (MaxVento) is now 10 years old, and adding to his challenges is the fact his mum and dad have divorced and are living 100 miles from one another (dad Paul is still in the Lake District, mum Alison is in Manchester), leaving him feeling torn between the two.
Nothing sums up Joe’s distress as vividly as a scene where he takes his precious headphones – from which he’s rarely been parted since series one – and lobs them in the lake.
His dad fears this may be of ominous significance.
Having instilled in his son a penchant for his own favourite indie bands he asks anxiously: “Is it the music you don’t like any more, or the headphones?”
Elsewhere, the latest instalment of PAUL HOLLYWOOD EATS JAPAN (C4, 9pm) finds the Bake Off beardy on board the famous Japanese bullet train, tucking into what we’re told is the world’s greatest railway buffet food (I’m not entirely sure who decides these things, but they’ve clearly never bought a tuna sarnie from the man on the Brighton-toVictoria line).
By venturing far from the capital city, Paul gets to sample Japanese food in a far broader sense.
Most of it looks really nice. Some of it looks challenging. Some of it looks horrid.When it’s the latter, Paul says so, which is rather refreshing, if a bit rude. Meanwhile,
GreggWallace is also doing some eating, only in his case it’s in Essex.
Concluding the current series of INSIDE THE FACTORY
(BBC2, 9pm), Gregg and co-host Cherry Healey are at the Eat Natural place in Halstead, which churns out 400,000 cereal bars per day.
I’m guessing that’s considered a lot, hence the expression Cherry pulls as she’s telling us. Either that or she’s just stubbed her toe.
The factory actually makes 22 different varieties of bar, but the show focuses on one of the best sellers: dark chocolate with cranberries and macadamia.
According to the company’s website, this contains: shredded coconut 21 per cent, dark chocolate 20 per cent (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: SOYA lecithin), sultanas 16 per cent, glucose syrup, crisped rice (rice, sugar), dried cranberries 8 per cent (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil), honey, MACADAMIA NUTS 6 per cent. (For allergens, see ingredients in BOLD CAPITALS. May also contain: Peanuts, sesame seeds and cow’s milk.)
Gregg reduces this to: “Packed with nuts, cranberries, coconut, sultanas and coated in chocolate!”
I assume he’s in a rush.