Aussie rules for Miriam
WHEN I get to Miriam Margolyes’s age, I want to be like Miriam Margolyes. Admittedly, I might struggle in certain respects but her wit, warmth, honesty and inquisitiveness are certainly qualities worth aspiring to. Miriam seems to be making more documentaries than ever these days, and even though she often says things I don’t agree with, I still enjoy hearing her saying them. She’s excellent company.
Her latest is MIRIAM MARGOLYES: ALMOST AUSTRALIAN (BBC2, 9pm), a travelogue inspired by her becoming an Aussie citizen six years ago.And what exactly does it involve her doing?
“This 78-year-old Jewish lesbian,” she explains, “is embarking on a 10,000-kilometre, two-month journey, to discover what it is to be an Australian today.”
Miriam’s Aussie links date back 40-odd years. But is it still the land she fell in love with?
Before that, on Channel 4, one of the many Rylan Clark-Neals currently in circulation (there must be at least a dozen, they’re everywhere) hosts a new family game show.
IT PAYSTO BEHAVE (8pm) is just a pilot for now but if we ask really nicely then I’m sure they’ll make us a whole series of it.
The idea is that a mum and dad, filmed going about their everyday business in their own home, have their parenting skills put to the test.The more successfully they rise to the challenges, the more they’ll win. It could be as much as £10,000. But it probably won’t be. The parents here are Matt and Clare, who have three squabbling teenagers.
Clare describes their domestic set-up as “carnage”. Matt calls it “a zoo”. Nothing we’re shown suggests they’re exaggerating.
To start with, the couple think they’re taking part in a parentingthemed documentary, although God knows why they’d want to.
But then Rylan reveals what’s really going on. He also reveals the most important rule: they mustn’t tell the kids there’s money at stake. If they knew, he says, “I’m sure they’d be perfect angels…” It seems unlikely.
Elsewhere, JACK WHITEHALL’S SPORTING NATION (BBC1,
8.30pm) celebrates the phenomenon of the underdog. Hence you’ll hear the word “plucky” quite a lot.
Pluckiness is a quality greatly valued by us British sports fans, its rough translation being “a tendency on the part of our competitors to try awfully hard but finish 907th, and yet occasionally pull off a miracle/fabulous fluke”.
On a more positive note, it’s day one of the Third Test between England and the West Indies (TODAY AT THE TEST, BBC2,
7pm). I’m confident England will come at least second.