All back to her place
MARY BERRY’S CHRISTMAS PARTY
BBC1, 8.30pm SHE won our hearts in Bake Off and now the cookery queen wins at Christmas.
Mary’s having a party, with amazingly unachievable food, and we all want to go. She looks fabulous – from the sequinned dress to the berry-red nails, she actually out-sparkles Darcey Bussell. And Darcey is on Strictly for goodness sake.
But moving on, stars have been roped in to help make the party food. So this is part celebrity cookery lesson, part Mary Berry fan club, as four adoring and nervous TV stars troop in.
Darcey giggles like a little girl, in complete awe. One Show presenter Alex Jones lobs vanilla extract all over the worktop, before trying to add an extra slosh of brandy to her cream. “One for the road? No?”
Radio DJ Fearne Cotton is also giddy – she wants Mary to be her friend (don’t we all), while Citizen Khan actor Adil Ray just wants to tell anecdotes, despite Mary’s eyes willing him to “keep stirring, never stop stirring”.
Mary is the perfect blend of strict schoolteacher and mischievous teenager, while the others are desperate to please her.
The whole thing builds to the party, which is basically a big show and tell for friends and family.
And just when you think it can’t get any more festive, in walks Myleene Klass to play the piano while everyone has a sing-song – well, they’ve all had quite a lot of brandy by this point.
It’s a very Mary Christmas.