Credit: Channel 4
Finding love is a popular resolution for 2013, and Gok Wan seems to know how to make it happen. His new show, Gok’s Style Secrets (Channel 4, Wednesday, 8pm), sees the telly host helping single women to re-invent their style, and hopefully get a date. In this, the first episode of the series, heavily tattooed sci-fi fanatic Zoe is taken out of her grungy flares and baggy tops, and done up as a ‘50s-style pin-up to try and attract a bloke. Zoe did look gorgeous after Gok’s signature makeover (cinched-in waist, statement accessories, pencil skirt etc) and seemed much more confident and happy, but the chances of most women heading down their local wearing a strapless polka-dot cocktail dress and sky-high heels are remote. If only every insecure lady had Gok to tell them to “go for it, girl”.
The woman on British telly who perhaps most needs Gok’s flirting and glamour advice has to be Miranda Hart (Miranda, BBC1, Tuesday, 9pm). Despite not having his number on speed-dial, this week’s installment of the new series sees the First Lady of Falling Over going on a real-life date (hurray!) and getting arrested (boo!). This love interest isn’t the rather beautiful Gary, with whom she’s shared sexual tension for the last few series, but a new bloke she meets in a bar. Fairly standard scrapes, including losing her clothes in a trendy shop and being shown up by her meddling mother abound, but if you’re a fan of this sweet, generous sitcom, you will not be disappointed.
One programme that certainly didn’t disappoint this was David Attenborough’s spectacular Africa (BBC1, Wednesday, 9pm). Despite the ludicrously high expectations surrounding this show, David and his team actually managed to exceed them with a charming, funny and detailed look at the way the beasts of the Kalahari fight, mate and interact with each other. Highlights include a giraffe scrap, a scene of the cutest baby ostriches trying to find water, and a disappointing sexual encounter between two rhinos to which most women will be able to relate. David Attenborough has come under fire recently for some shots in his documentaries being “set up”, but the scenery shown in Africa is so beautiful and the animals’ narratives so carefully conveyed, that it doesn’t make a jot of difference if there has been some mild human interference to improve the quality of the storytelling. If you missed the show on Wednesday, take the time to watch it on iPlayer now, and be transported from a grey January day to the scorching African desert.
