The Diets That Time Forgot, Channel Four
11:28am Wednesday 19th March 2008
TV is forever searching for a new format, something that will capture the viewers' imagination.
Last night on Channel Four, Sir Roy Strong, former director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, hosted the first in a series of The Diets That Time Forgot - which appears to be a cross between a reality show and a history lesson.
It probably seemed like a good idea at the planning stage but on screen I'm far from convinced. The idea of taking nine fatties and subjecting them to some of the more obscure notions of the 19th century under the overly-watchful eye of Sir Roy, principal of the Institute of Physical Culture, was just silly. We watched them being forced into corsets and having to waddle around a country pile while undertaking a series of strange diets. It was rather like Fat Camp meets Pride and Prejudice.
Woe betide anyone who strayed from their given path, Sir Roy was there to do his best Atilla the Hun impression in a monocle.
Among the more unusual methods of weight loss being prescribed was a theory that if you chewed every morsal of food 32 times before swallowing, the weight would simply fall away.
I think a programme on diets of yore would be interesting.
A study of overweight people losing weight somehow always attracts an audience.
But why bother pushing the two together?