So this millionaire just happens to spot a charity flier in a pub window? Pull the other one
Along with almost everyone else, I would imagine, I had tears in my eyes at the "reveal" of the first episode of the new series of The Secret Millionaire (Channel 4). You'd be hard pushed to find two more deserving recipients of Sean Gallagher's �75,000 than Richard and Tracy, who set up their own charity, Abbie's Love, after their daughter died of epilepsy three years ago. And Sean seemed a genuinely decent bloke, too. So why does The Secret Millionaire still leaves me feeling rather uneasy?
Partly it's that the programme feels unnecessarily manipulative. What were the chances of Sean, who has never properly grieved the death from epilepsy of his own sister more than 25 years ago, pitching up in Middlesbrough from London in the very week that a husband-and-wife epilepsy charity, operating out of their bedroom floor, has a flier for an Elvis impersonator fundraiser in the window of a small pub in a rundown part of town? And that Sean happened to walk by and see it? I'd guess this had all the hallmarks of great pre-planning by a Channel 4 researcher rather than coincidence.
But it's also because the programme often seems to be more about the tremendously rewarding emotional journey the millionaires are taking, rather than the people they end up helping. And pleased as I am that Sean has realised there is more to life than running a successful IT recruitment consultancy, this isn't really the TV programme I want to see. Imagine having to watch Richard Branson or Alan Sugar slumming it for a week.
You can't argue with Sean's generosity, but couldn't he have just done it in, well, secret? I'm all for the well-off giving some of their wealth away, but I'd rather they did it off camera, much as the less well-off do when they are donating a few quid to charity. Sean could just as easily have donated the other �50,000 he gave to Fairbridge, the charity working with young people with few qualifications and fewer prospects, via the Guardian's Christmas appeal, as that was one of the charities we supported last year. I'm only saying. And if Channel 4 wants to highlight deserving causes, why not just do it without the mediation of a millionaire?
If it did, the programmes might look something like The Prison Restaurant (BBC1). After first working at the Mirabelle, chef Al Crisci has spent the past 11 years as catering manager at High Down prison in Surrey. With the backing of governor Pete Dawson and various donors, in 2009 Crisci opened The Clink, the only commercial restaurant located inside a prison and staffed entirely by inmates.
The Clink has been a hit with both the foodies and the great and the good; look carefully and you could see Jeremy Paxman noshing in the background. But it's also been a hit with prisoners who can earn �14.70 a week working there ? 50p more than in the prison kitchens ? and see catering as a route to getting a decent job when they get out. Though not all. One of the many jaw-dropping elements of this documentary was the faith and patience displayed by Crisci and prison support worker Jackie Burke as time after time prisoners abused their trust.
Rather than being a film about a prison restaurant, it was more a film about how few chances most prisoners get at rehabilitation and how many blow the ones they do get. Levan was thrilled to be offered a job as a waiter, then hacked the computer billing system on his first night. Dominic proudly nicked a bottle of Fanta and smoked a cigarette on camera and was mortified to be suspended. It was pathetic really. Robbie did last the distance. "Smashed it," he said proudly when he was offered a job at Locanda Locatelli on his release. I hope the job stays smashed.
If you have managed to forget there is a royal wedding on Friday, all four channels have been happy to remind you by putting the same programme out night after night under a different name. The latest disguise was When Kate Met William: A Tale of Two Lives (ITV1), which informed us that William is a very normal prince, Kate is a very normal public school-educated daughter of a millionaire and their marriage is a very normal fairytale romance. Saturday can't come quickly enough.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/apr/26/secret-millionaire-tv-review
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