No age concern with kids’ laughter

Old PeOPle’s HOme fOr 4 Year Olds (CH 4)

IT was always going to make fun, feel-good telly…plonk a band of noisy pre-schoolers into a retirement home with subdued pensioners – and encourage them to interact.

From dancing and drawing to making gingerbread men, simple activities break down the age barriers and, before you know it, the kids and the oldies are best friends.

The little ones are so full of energy that they can melt even the coldest of hearts.

Like that of 97-year-old Dunkirk veteran Victor, a widower who regains his sparkle after spending time with the children.

The programme was full of golden moments, like 102-year-old Sylvia making aeroplane noises with the spoon, encouraging the kids to eat their greens.

But the highlight was when Lavinia, who could barely put one foot in front of the other at the beginning, almost sprinted across the grass to play with the kids at the park.

It was like watching the years fall away.

I managed to hold the tears back until Beryl, 86, asked who Scarlett, four, would write her party invitation out to and she said “Daddy and Gran”, because her mummy had died.

It opened the floodgates so much, there was no going back.

I already can’t wait until next week.

Bear GrYlls’ CeleBrITY IslaNd (CH 4)

IT started out so well… but ended in disaster.

Pete Wicks was bitten by a shark. Thankfully, it was a small one and he escaped largely unscathed – but that didn’t stop him from bragging about surviving a “shark attack”.

The programme ended with the contestants being reunited with food and mobile phones, always enough to make a grown man cry – even the bold and brave Pete!