Can’t Get The Staff
Choosing one’s spouse is, by comparison, a simple, trivial matter. As any student of the collected works of PG Wodehouse will tell you, few things in life matter as much as finding the right staff , complete with skills, character and that all-important sense of discretion. This week three very different employers are on the hunt in the opening episode of Channel 4’s jovially entertaining new series Can’t Get The Staff (Tuesday, 9pm). Lady Colin Campbell is hosting a London soirée, and a temporary butler is required. Will the man recommended by her pal Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia cut the mustard at the society dinner?
Built as a stout defence against rampaging medieval Scots, Chillingham Castle is now where Sir Humphry Wakefield houses his beloved armoury, and the former captain in the Royal Hussars needs an ally to tend to the magnificent collection and join him in the unceasing battle against rust.
Princess Olga Romanoff grew up in a household teeming with staff at Provender House in Kent, but these days she has to tackle much of the housekeeping and even guides the tourist parties. The 35-acre grounds are lovely but overgrown, and too much for Sean the gardener alone – but the question is whether a young assistant who knows how to wield a trowel can be found from among the ranks of today’s Generation Xbox. Readers of The Lady will relish the cameo appearance by this magazine which is, naturally, the best place to find your Jeeves – and avoid a Mrs Danvers.
NOT TO BE MISSED
HOLIDAY OF MY LIFE TIME, BBC, Mon, 3.45pm Every day this week, Strictly’s Len Goodman takes a star on a trip to a childhood holiday destination.
THE ART OF GOTHIC: Britain’s Midnight Hour, BBC, Mon, 9pm
Andrew Graham-Dixon is our expert guide to the art and architecture Victorian Britain was inspired to create by the legacy of the medieval past.
LIFE STORY, BBC, Thurs, 9pm
An epic new natural history presented by Sir David Attenborough tells the story of life from birth for creatures across the planet.