Count the cost of carbs
WE ALREADY have our first contender for 2021’ s Most Optimistic Programme Title. It’s HORIZON: FEAST TO SAVE THE PLANET, a one- off special tonight on BBC Two ( 9pm).
Hosted by Gregg Wallace and mathematician Dr Hannah Fry – yes, together at last – it delivers its optimism in two distinct dollops.
First, by suggesting that the meal it’s dishing up is even remotely feast- like, proportion- wise. And, second, by implying that a handful of reasonably well- known people sitting around a London dinner table and nibbling away at it, will be sufficient in itself to fend off any event of an inconveniently apocalyptic nature.
But, OK, maybe I’m nit- picking a tad ( you should try it, it’s fun) because ultimately I guess this is a programme with its heart in the right place.
The five “special guests” in question ( Sara Pascoe, Amol Rajan, Nikki Fox, Desiree Burch and Matthew Fort – see, that’s how special they are) are told on arrival that they’re taking part in a competition. Not a fun competition, don’t be daft, this is Horizon, but one where they’ll be scored on the eco- friendliness, or otherwise, of every item they choose from the menu.
While Gregg largely plays the Everyman role – being told things he didn’t know, and maybe things he didn’t know he didn’t know, and, who knows, possibly even the odd thing he thinks might be twaddle, although I’m sure that’s not the case, forget I even said it
– Hannah gets to hang out behind the scenes with a bunch of environmental scientists, “carefully calculating the carbon footprint of every single item on the menu…”
Almost as much fun as that, I’d imagine, is breaking your back, which you may recall is what Bradley Walsh managed to do when he fell off a bull in the last series of his father- and- son ITV travelogue.
Perhaps surprisingly, that programme – the presciently named BRADLEY WALSH AND SON: BREAKING DAD – is back tonight for a new run ( 8pm), with the pair now travelling across
Europe, possibly seeking ways to fracture Bradley’s left tibia.
The fun starts in the Netherlands ( now, there’s a sentence I never imagined I’d write…), where thrill- seeker Barney insists he and his patched- up dad should experience the bafflingly popular Dutch tradition of canal- jumping.
Finally, FOOD UNWRAPPED’S HEALTHY NEW YEAR ( C4, 8pm) didn’t come with a preview for me to watch but does promise, among other items, co- host Matt Tebbutt putting together a “low- fat cheeseboard”.
I’m sure he means well, but ours is made of oak and it’s made not a blind bit of difference.