Break off from Bake Off
AS LET-DOWNS go, episode one of C4’s new four-part series EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPES WITH SANDI TOKSVIG (9pm) is initially quite a substantial one.What a refreshingly original idea, I’d thought to begin with. Which particular escapes will the ex-Bake Off host be recreating?
The escape plot from Stalag Luft III, perhaps, where those crafty POWs tunnelled under a wooden vaulting horse?
The one where the chaps banged up in Colditz planned to get away by glider?
Or maybe one of Steve McQueen’s less successful attempts? Or even the one cooked up by Sly Stallone and Michael Caine and half the Ipswich Town football squad?
Alternatively, maybe Sandi will be doing none of those things. Maybe I’m an idiot.
Yes, of course. Sandi is merely escaping the hurly-burly, not the Nazis, and while that other option would obviously have made better television and C4 will be kicking themselves for not thinking of it, Extraordinary Escapes With Sandi Toksvig is nonetheless rather good fun.
The idea, if she doesn’t mind me saying so, carries the faint whiff of another C4 show, Travel Man, where Richard Ayoade would head off each week for a mini-break in the company of a different celebrity chum.
Unlike Richard, Sandi hasn’t chosen big-city tourist destinations, nor come with a suitcase full of sweet-natured sarcasm to sprinkle about. But in common with him, she’s taking each of these trips with a famous friend. In Sandi’s case, however, they’re all women.
Tonight she’s off to Suffolk with Alison Steadman. So it’s as much about how she passes the time with each of these four women – the conversations they have, their jokes and anecdotes – as it is about the places themselves. Lots of it is funny, but funny in a less obviously comedic way, if that makes sense.
That’s not to say the places she visits aren’t tremendous.The focus here is on stunning remote locations and some of the magnificent properties that grace them, such as the beachside Martello Tower featured in this evening’s episode. They’re the sort of places, particularly right now, to which we dream of running away. Escaping, even. But don’t let’s get started on that again.
Meanwhile, in episode four of ITV’s seaside slaughter show THE BAY (9pm) a new team of cops is brought in to investigate the horrible thing that happened at the end of episode three. They’ll be working separately from DI Tony Manning’s team, who are still investigating the horrible thing that happened at the start of episode one. But the bloke in charge of this new lot – who’s horrible, by the way – clearly reckons Manning’s not up to the job.