Perkins is in good nick
SUE Perkins is back tonight with episode two of DOUBLE THE MONEY (8pm), Channel 4’s frothy new business challenge. Yes, just 24 hours after she kindly brought us episode one. And yet I think I can guess what you’ll say when the closing titles roll.You’ll say: “That’s still not enough Sue Perkins for my liking. I want at least another hour of her.”
So, well done to the canny folk over at Channel 5 for anticipating your demands, and for lining up a television show straight afterwards which should more than satisfy your needs.
Namely, SUE PERKINS: LOST
IN THAILAND (9pm), the first of her new travel series. Lost In Thailand isn’t about Sue being lost in Thailand in the literal sense, of course, any more than Sue Perkins: Lost In Alaska, shown last year, was about Sue Perkins being literally lost in Alaska.
Which is good, because there’s only so much amusement one can derive from watching a famous face in a far-off land going: “Does anyone know where the heck we actually are?”
No, the idea is simply that Sue seeks out the slightly less obvious experiences to throw herself into. Starting tonight with throwing herself into a sinkhole.
She does this in the Thai highlands, having met up with a bunch of abseiling types who do this kind of thing for actual fun.
The abseiling crazies take Sue to the top of a scarily high rock (admittedly, it offers a magnificent view but then so does my screensaver), where they hook her up to a rope-and-buckle thingy.They then encourage her to relax as, with their expert guidance, she begins a 230ft solo descent into the abyss.
Although she’s agreed to undertake the challenge itself, keen to venture beyond her comfort zone, Sue doesn’t take them up on the “looking relaxed” bit. Also in this episode, Sue goes to prison.
Not because she’s done something really bad – other than when she sang Reach by S Club 7 while dressed as a dragon on The Masked Singer – but because she’d like a Thai massage.
At the Chiang MaiWomen’s Correctional Institution, prisoners have become expert masseuses, a skill they’ve been encouraged to learn so they can earn themselves an honest crust once released.
The crimes for which they’re serving time, Sue assures us, are non-violent.
Since she’s known for being such a kind and trusting person, I’m slightly surprised she’s even checked. Maybe someone checked on her behalf.
She also visits a place where they make paper from a pile of elephant dung.
Alexander Armstrong showed us the same thing, I recall, on his Channel 5 trip South Korea but it’s always good to be reminded of the recipe.
DID YOU KNOW? When John Sergeant was voted out of Strictly after 10 weeks in 2008, he said: “The trouble is that there’s now a real danger that I might win the competition. Even for me that would be a joke too far.”