I have my reservations
IOFTEN wonder how certain TV shows come to be. Particularly fly-on-the-wall documentaries or whatever we’re meant to call them these days. How exactly were the participants persuaded to take part?Were they made aware of how they’d come across on screen? Did they assume they’d be shown in a positive light?
Or were the producers upfront with them from day one? “Cards on the table, guys: our plan is to make you look rather silly. But, trust us, it’ll be great publicity...”
It’s questions such as these I find myself pondering again as I watch AVERY BRITISH HOTEL
CHAIN: INSIDE BEST WESTERN, starting tonight on Channel 4 (9pm).
On the one hand, yes, it does indeed draw our attention to this nationwide hospitality brand, the biggest independent group of its kind.
The company has to be happy with that bit. On the other, it feels as if its primary aim is to take the Michael.
As we follow the various participants going about their business – chief executive Rob, hotel inspector Alasdair, sales exec Terii, plus the head office workforce, assorted hoteliers, actual guests etc – it’s hard to avoid the feeling that this programme is quietly sniggering behind everyone’s back.
It’s like it is revelling in the naivety of the non-media-savvy, praying they’ll say or do something unwittingly naff, or crack a lame gag that leaves just an awkward silence, every toecurling millisecond of which can then be lovingly preserved in the final edit.
That’s not to say you won’t learn things from this show.You’ll actually learn a fair bit, about a colourful, people-focused business and what makes it tick.
And maybe I’m being oversensitive on the firm’s behalf. Maybe they’re fine with it.
Maybe it doesn’t even bother them that the producers hired comedian Diane Morgan – aka mockumentary presenter Philomena Cunk – to do the final voiceover.
Just be aware that what the makers would no-doubt argue is “gentle irreverence” can come across at times as a wee bit sneering.
Elsewhere, we have the fourth and final episode (I’d hoped for at least 40) of HOWTO KEEPYOUR DOG HAPPY AT HOME (ITV,
8.30pm). In this one we meet a Jack Russell who’s helping kids to read (seriously) and a golden retriever who’s become mummy to a bunch of kittens.
Finally, there’s another chance to see the 2016 documentary TELEVISION’S OPENING NIGHT: HOWTHE BOXWAS BORN (BBC Four, 10pm), marking the 80th anniversary (as it was at the time) of British TV’s first official broadcast.