IAN HYLAND
On last night’s telly
When the BBC came up with the idea for this surprisingly entertaining reality game show, I’m guessing providing a public service was low on its priority list.
A few months and one global pandemic later, this daily 45-minute knockabout might actually prove useful for anyone who has been left searching for a new job.
The format is fairly familiar. So familiar, in fact, I’m surprised the Beeb didn’t just call it Come Work With Me.
Then again, that would have perhaps alerted Channel 4’s lawyers.
So the BBC went with Call That Hard Work?, which also happens to be what some people – generally those have never watched a full week’s worth of Eastenders and Hollyoaks in one sitting – say when they hear what I do for a living.
The latest batch of contestants to try out each other’s jobs for a day included a dog groomer, a London tour bus guide and a man who says that after four years in the job he no longer smells the nasty stench.
No, Zack isn’t a journalist covering Brexit or even a White House staffer.
In fact he’s a plumber who spends his days unblocking toilets and clearing away shredded fatbergs (that’s not a new breakfast cereal, by the way).
Unsurprisingly, Zack’s two competitors, dog parlour owner Sophie and walking encyclopedia Joe, decided that his job was much harder than theirs and so the plumber walked off with the £1,000 cash prize.
Unfortunately, Zack failed to wave the money around, yelling: “Look, I’m flush!”
Given his line of work, that has to go down as a chance missed.
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I’m surprised the Beeb didn’t just call it Come Work With Me