Room with a brew...

INSIDE THE FACTORY BBC2, 8pm

STATISTICS fly at us so thick and fast in this strangely gripping series that it’s hard to keep up.

Did you know that Brits drink 165 million cups of tea every day? That the Typhoo tea factory churns out 14 million teabags every day? Or that tea leaves make a 4,000 mile journey from plantation to tea bag? Mind blown.

In theory, Gregg Wallace in a blue hairnet chatting to a load of blokes in a factory shouldn’t be that entertaining. But the grinning grocer is thoroughly fascinated, and you will be too. If you hadn’t figured it out already, this series opener focuses on the production of teabags. Heading to the Typhoo factory on the Wirral, responsible for a quarter of the UK’s tea, Gregg observes the enormous machines which punch out teabags like ravioli.

And the amazing facts keep coming. Five lorries arrive at the factory every morning, each carrying over 24 tonnes of dried tea leaves from around the world.

And there are factory workers with fascinating job titles such as Blending Manager and, best of all, Tea Taster.

Just listen out for the epic slurp of tea taster Alan as he explains the job – slurp, swill and spit. It’s a noise you will never be able to erase from your brain.

Elsewhere, Gregg’s co-investigator Cherry Healey (also enthusiastic – she actually says “wowsers”) is discovering the secrets of the tea leaf in an African processing plant.

But most importantly, there is a science lesson on how to get the best possible cup of tea from your bag.

And once you see how much work goes into a single teabag, you’ll appreciate your cuppa even more!