Weeding out witchcraft
STARTING on our television sets tonight we have a brand new series called YOUR GARDEN MADE PERFECT (BBC2, 8pm), hosted by Angela Scanlon. If the title sounds familiar, it’s either because (a) it came to you in a dream, in which case I’d get yourself an agent and pitch for a show of your own, or (b) it’s pretty much the same concept as a brand old series called Your Home Made Perfect, other than… well, yes, exactly.
“We all have some idea what our homes should look like,” declares Angela, “but when it comes to our gardens we are clueless.” (I resist the urge to yell at the television, “Speak for yourself, Angela Scanlon!” since in my case I’m afraid she’s spot on.)
As with the indoor version, the show’s key gimmick is its use of computer-generated simulation (or “witchcraft”, to use the infinitely better term favoured by, among others, my father-in-law). For each makeover, two very different proposals are drawn up, each by a highly respected garden designer I suspect I’m meant to have heard of.
The homeowners are then asked to don virtual reality headsets, partly so we can laugh at how daft they look but mostly so that each design can be brought to life in 3D before their very eyes, using high-tech clever-cloggery.
An appropriate alternative title for this series would have been Your Garden Looks Horrid, because essentially that’s the starting point in each case – maybe not the sort of garden whose
current visual highlights are a stained wet mattress and a rusting Ford Fiesta on bricks, but certainly the kind that looks neglected or just a bit nothingy.
Elsewhere, artificial intelligence also happens to be tonight’s topic in THE CHASERS ROADTRIP: TRAINS, BRAINS AND
AUTOMOBILES (ITV, 9pm).
It’s the last of the series in which three of the largely loveable know-alls from BradleyWalsh’s quiz show get to pit their wits against alternative types of opponent – specifically, clever animals, precocious kids and, in tonight’s case, robots, albeit not the kind that are all about trying to kill you on Doctor Who. Meanwhile, over on Channel 5, there’s the final part of the ridiculous but ridiculously addictive thriller THE
DROWNING (9pm).
I’ve started so I’ll finish, but I’m almost tempted not to.
We left it last night on what seemed like such a satisfactory note, I’d gladly just sign off right there.
The fact there’s an hour still to go suggests further nasty plot twists and shouting.
Unless they plan to pad it out with a few song-and-dance numbers, which I have to say would be a lot less stressful.