There's obviously demand for an adult version of Blue Peter as The One Show demonstrates (and shame on you if that wasn't what sprang to mind!).
But when it comes to kids-style TV for grown-ups there's a fine line between success and failure and Jimmy Doherty comes perilously close to tripping over it (Jimmy's Food Factory, BBC1, 3 January).
This week, he set himself the task of recreating kids' party favourites such as marshmallows and fish fingers as well as finding out how to make mini rolls without cracks (courtesty of the good folk at United Biscuits) and how raspberry growers protect their crops from bugs. The question you couldn't help asking throughout was why?
Doherty claimed at the end that it was to help parents explain to their kids in the supermarket how food was made. Who's he kidding? You can picture it now, can't you? Mum stopping mid-shop to serenely deliver a short educational spiel on what pork and marshmallows have in common (gelatine), how fish needs to be frozen fast to retain its flavour and how air is pumped into the chocolate batter in mini rolls to ensure a smooth finish.
Be honest, it's never gonna happen, except possibly if you're a Waitrose shopper. And if that's the case, you probably forced your offspring to watch the programme beforehand anyway. Which was probably a good thing, because if ever there was a frontman in the kids' presenter mould, it has to be the doe-eyed Doherty (a look that ironically only male kids' presenters can pull off).
Indeed, his wacky scientific stunts and wide-eyed wonder at the results reminded me of the now defunct Brainiac: Science Abuse. Not that it was entirely pointless. I did emerge from the half hour feeling slightly better informed, especially about fast freezing (the fish retains more water and therefore flavour than its slow frozen counterpart apparently).
And the shtick about raspberries being the supermodels of the fruit world because they're so high maintenance was vaguely amusing.
But it wasn't enough. Fortunately, this fool's gold was followed by foodie gold in the form of Nigel Slater's New Year Suppers. In fact, I'll take the dough-faced Nigel Slater over the doe-eyed Doherty any day.
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But when it comes to kids-style TV for grown-ups there's a fine line between success and failure and Jimmy Doherty comes perilously close to tripping over it (Jimmy's Food Factory, BBC1, 3 January).
This week, he set himself the task of recreating kids' party favourites such as marshmallows and fish fingers as well as finding out how to make mini rolls without cracks (courtesty of the good folk at United Biscuits) and how raspberry growers protect their crops from bugs. The question you couldn't help asking throughout was why?
Doherty claimed at the end that it was to help parents explain to their kids in the supermarket how food was made. Who's he kidding? You can picture it now, can't you? Mum stopping mid-shop to serenely deliver a short educational spiel on what pork and marshmallows have in common (gelatine), how fish needs to be frozen fast to retain its flavour and how air is pumped into the chocolate batter in mini rolls to ensure a smooth finish.
Be honest, it's never gonna happen, except possibly if you're a Waitrose shopper. And if that's the case, you probably forced your offspring to watch the programme beforehand anyway. Which was probably a good thing, because if ever there was a frontman in the kids' presenter mould, it has to be the doe-eyed Doherty (a look that ironically only male kids' presenters can pull off).
Indeed, his wacky scientific stunts and wide-eyed wonder at the results reminded me of the now defunct Brainiac: Science Abuse. Not that it was entirely pointless. I did emerge from the half hour feeling slightly better informed, especially about fast freezing (the fish retains more water and therefore flavour than its slow frozen counterpart apparently).
And the shtick about raspberries being the supermodels of the fruit world because they're so high maintenance was vaguely amusing.
But it wasn't enough. Fortunately, this fool's gold was followed by foodie gold in the form of Nigel Slater's New Year Suppers. In fact, I'll take the dough-faced Nigel Slater over the doe-eyed Doherty any day.
More from this column
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