The Three Day Nanny
CHANNEL 4, 8.00PM
The third series of this Super nanny-influenced show sees professional child troubleshooter Kathryn Mewes faced with the Scotts: parents Chris and Becky, plus two-year-old Bobbie and three-year-old Freddie. After Becky struggled with post-natal depression, Chris became a full-time father and a gulf in parenting methods developed: Chris’s one-size-fits-all solution to bad behaviour is the naughty corner, while Becky struggles to discipline them at all. The results are calamitous, with the boys beating up both each other and their parents.
After a day of observation in the house and a few probing questions, Mewes discovers their issues are deep rooted in past trauma; as dreadful as the Scotts’ situation has become, they merely face more extreme versions of the sorts of dilemma familiar to any parent. Mewes advises perspective, positivity and consistency, and it won’t surprise anyone familiar with these formats to learn that the results are startling. As predictable as this formula is, it has lost none of its appeal (or, in the debit column, the wearying recaps and teasers that bracket each commercial break). Compelling stuff.