My Tv Week: Here comes the science bit

Aug 8 2003

By Neil Atkinson, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

SCIENCE generally left me cold at school.

Biology had its moments (!) and chemistry was fun when something went wrong, but I could think of far better ways to spend my time as a teenager.

But a 30-minute programme tucked away on BBC2 was a fascinating glimpse into science with a new perspective. Presenter Garry Lavin is a boffin with attitude and his wry look at today's lifestyle hammered home countless scientific facts with very little effort.

If only physics lessons at college had been so interesting ...

The programme looked at the modern home and its need for packaged living.

It transported Lavin from an adventure course with the Army, learning to use old-fashioned tin openers, to a modern day canning plant and the news that Britain produces 27 million cans a day.

Those tin cans cost 7p each to produce but are now being overtaken as packages by aluminium cans, such as those used by soft drinks firms, and by paper and plastic wrappings.

So much for today. By far the more interesting news came with a trip to a Wiltshire stately home and its ice-house - a vast chamber buried deep in the grounds, which was filled with ice from the lake by an army of servants in the winter to preserve food throughout the year and leave a chunk or two for the whisky.

That led him to the kitchen and the forerunners of today's refrigerators and, eventually, to the problems of recycling old freezers.

All in all, a great way of getting the facts across with fun.

My Tv Week: No Cutting Edge..
Katie Campling

Unfortunately, Cutting Edge made a potentially gripping story dull. It was aired before Bob, Terri and Mary go on trial - leaving big gaps in the story.

EVERY Home Should Have One, on BBC2, was the total opposite. Presenter Garry Lavin managed to make dull household appliances interesting.

With boundless enthusiasm, inventor and sketcher Garry launched the series talking about the history of power in our homes - from neolithic times when sheep and cows heated the home to modern day electronics.

I was strangely gripped by the off-the-wall presenter and unusual cartoon cut scenes.