Beeny there, done that
OPERATING on the premise that there’s no such thing as too much Sarah Beeny (who could disagree?), Channel 4 fires up another Beeny series just as one bows out. But come on, giving the them almost-identical titles shows a failure of imagination at HQ.
First, SARAH BEENY’S NEW COUNTRY LIVES (C4, 5pm) makes its debut, with the property guru meeting rural life newbies to offer encouragement as they do up their abodes and make friends.
Over 20 episodes Sarah will meet 11 families embracing a fresh start, kicking off with James, who’s setting up a boutique hotel, and Gary and Annette, who enter their village’s scarecrow competition (a creepy rural tradition that makes me glad I live in London).
Beeny’s the enthusiastic star of the show, extolling the charms of rural life and offering sympathy while undergoing her own personal crisis. She was having cancer treatment during filming and wears a selection of becoming wigs to disguise her hair loss from chemo. What a warrior!
Please note, this new series is not to be confused with SARAH BEENY’S NEW LIFE INTHE COUNTRY (C4, 8pm), which brings to a close (for now) the Beeny family’s protracted period of building their Somerset pile.
Tonight, Sarah and her other half, Graham, measure up for a grand greenhouse that will provide green-fingered Sarah with a mini-retreat, which she urgently needs as a result of her diagnosis
– a place for “me time”. And going out on a (literal) high note, the couple’s four boys, who are in a band called The Entitled Sons (although The Beeny Babies would have been a better choice), are busy rehearsing for a tour and performance at a music festival.
BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT (ITV, 8pm) starts up its live semi-finals this week, but with respect to Simon Cowell, who needs fireeaters and magic tricks when you’ve got the real-life reality show SPRINGWATCH (BBC2, 7.30pm)? It promises more nail-biting moments than you’ll ever get watching variety acts: will the barn owlets survive? Will the slow worms reproduce? Taking us on this nature thrill ride is the dream team of Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan, back on their perch but in a new location.
They’ve swapped the lowlands of Norfolk for RSPB Arne on Poole Harbour in Dorset, which Google informs me remains one of the few places where all six of Britain’s native reptiles are found. So prepare yourself for an education in cold-blooded British natives – and I’m not talking about Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet – as the presenters bring a fresh crop of wildlife tales.
The pair are ably abetted by Iolo Williams exploring Dorset’s nearby Purbeck Heaths nature reserve and Gillian Burke meandering around Snowdonia National Park.