The jolly young hearts
WE’VE reached that particular time of year when the words “Christmas Special” are being tacked on the end of goodness knows how many regular TV programmes. What this mostly tends to mean is: “Here’s an extra episode we recorded in July, folks, where we chucked a bit of tinsel around the set and made everyone wear Santa hats.”
However I don’t mind. Really, I don’t. If a television programme has given us a tremendous amount of entertainment, why on earth should we raise grumpy, bah-humbug objections to an additional Yuletide-flavoured episode?
Personally, Mrs Ward and I can’t wait to snuggle up on the sofa in our matching Santa jim-jams for the Killing Eve Christmas Special, followed maybe the next night by Bodyguard Goes To Lapland or Silent Night Witness.
One of the most genuinely joyous festive shows you’re likely to see this year, however, is tonight’s one-off treat OLD PEOPLE’S HOME FOR 4 YEAR OLDS: CHRISTMAS (C4, 9pm). This takes us back to the Lark Hill Retirement Village in Nottinghamshire, where a few weeks ago we were dropping in for regular updates on the residents and their new nursery school chums.
The main series, you may remember, took the form of an experiment, designed to establish whether or not the residents’ mental and physical health was improved by sharing quality time with these kids. That, and to monitor the effect on the kids’ own development.
Needless to say, the researchers’ conclusion, once the results had been analysed, was not: “Naah, s’been a total waste of time, if we’re honest…” It was every bit as positive as they’d hoped.
This time around the Lark Hill folk and the children are being reunited, several months down the line, for a week’s worth of distinctly festive activities, the idea being to see if the experiment’s benefits have lasted. I don’t think I’m giving too much away if I tell you the mood is pretty upbeat once more.
Particularly moving is the improvement we witness in 81-year-old Lavinia (below), who’d suffered a nasty fall the last time we saw her, with a good many bruises to show for it but who’s now up and actually dancing for the first time in at least 10 years. “It’s absolutely exhilarating,” she says.
As a bonus, there’s a surprise performance at the Christmas party from Alfie Boe, performing his a cappella version of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Hilariously, it has the kids jamming their fingers in their ears. Alfie struggles not to burst out laughing. Ninety-seven-year-old resident Victor then gets up and sings White Christmas. “He knows how to work a crowd,” observes Alfie. “I hope I’m doing that at 97.” Elsewhere tonight, another lovely pre-Christmas tradition continues in THE APPRENTICE (BBC1, 9pm). Yes, it’s the magnificently excruciating, winceinducingly brutal interview round, where the five remaining candidates are subjected to the interview from hell, courtesy of
Lord Sugar’s trusted aides.