Chateau’s Angel delight
IT’S a tremendous privilege, being able to watch TV programmes before they go out on air. Particularly when it’s an episode of ESCAPE TO THE CHATEAU: MAKE DO AND MEND (C4, 8pm). This, remember, is the series where the ever inventive Dick and Angel Strawbridge generously dish out dollops of DIY advice, beaming it via video link from the giant gaff they did up all by themselves in Martigné-sur-Mayenne.
Getting to see an episode days in advance gives me ample time to try out Dick and Angel’s latest projects for myself, putting their tips to the test.That way, I can let you know if it’s worth you tuning in, or whether you’d be happier watching GLOW UP: BRITAIN’S NEXT MAKE-UP STAR (BBC2,
8pm), even though that seems highly unlikely.
My answer, in the case of tonight’s show, is yes, definitely, watch it from start to finish.The Chateau show, I mean, not the make-up nonsense.That’s what I did, scribbling down copious notes, and among the things I’m now able to do as a result, which I could never have done before, are to reupholster a chair that my dog has eaten (well, all right, one that she’s gnawed at. Had she actually eaten it, I fear it might have been more of a challenge).
I can build a rather posh designer kennel (it’s an especially doggythemed episode, this one).
I’m able to make some interesting furniture out of old car tyres and create a makeshift shower for when I go camping, using a tube, a plastic shower-head and a bag of water warmed up by the sun. Making the latter has also had a further benefit, in that it’s reminded me never, ever to go camping.
Also jolly useful, this time courtesy of ITV, is hearing how Lea & Perrins-Worcestershire Sauce is made, in INSIDE BRITAIN’S FOOD FACTORIES
That said, it looks a right old faff (the pickling alone takes 18 months), so on reflection I think I’ll just buy some.
Finally, there’s another new soap-themed compilation series starting tonight, aimed at those of us feeling semi-starved while the regular episodes remain rationed. EMMERDALE FAMILY TREE starts with an episode somewhat generously entitled The Dingles, Older And Wiser, celebrating a family who have been part of the Emmerdale landscape for 26 years.
They’re a bunch, it’s fair to say, who like to live by their own set of rules.
But Mark Charnock, who has been playing Marlon Dingle since 1996, proudly defends his on-screen family.
“They still have standards,” he quite rightly points out. “Those standards just happen not to exclude having an affair with your cousin…”