Laws have mercy
ALONE WITH THE IN-LAWS BBC2, 8pm
ASK most married couples about their in-laws and you’ll usually get an eye roll at best.
It’s not traditionally the easiest of relationships. So how would you feel about living with them for a while?
In this fascinating reality show dressed up as a documentary, that lovely vicar from Gogglebox, Reverend Kate Bottley, suggests to an engaged couple that they spend a few days with their in-laws-to-be before getting wed.
The idea is to see what they can learn about each other from the parents who raised them – and, more interestingly, what their partner is likely to expect from married life.
And so we meet Chris, 32, and Stacey, 30, from Bristol, who are deep in wedding planning mode.
They met as childhood sweethearts and Chris fell head over heels, but Stacey travelled the world before finally returning to the UK to be with him four years ago.
“I see it as a sacrifice,” she says, looking extremely uneasy as Kate rushes up to her gushing: “You must be thrilled.”
Stacey declares to Chris: “I feel like to settle with you is letting go of my identity.” Off she goes to live with Chris’s parents Julie and James, who have been married for 35 years.
She’s armed with a list of awkward questions from Kate, covering everything from finances to fidelity and parenting. But as Julie teaches her how to iron the bedsheets, Stacey looks nauseous. Is this what Chris expects?
Meanwhile, Chris spends time with each of Stacey’s divorced parents, Angela and Dave. “Housewife at the sink and he’d be happy,” says Angela. “She could find it dull.”
It’s not looking like a match made in heaven, but after four days with no contact, what have they learned?
And will they still want to say “I do”?