Alliteration aficionado Chris Packham presents a fascinating examination of nature’s brainiest beasts – just the thing to soothe our lockdown woes
Deciding what you can cope with watching during a pandemic is a high-wire act. When the inside of your head – and, for many, the outside, too – is an extended episode of 24 Hours in A&E, the last thing you probably want to collapse in front of is telly featuring hospitals, Covid-19 explainers, Brexit, Donald Trump, Max Clifford, Gordon Ramsay’s Bank Balance and … I could go on.
But nor do you want anything too pointless. When you’ve spent a year repeatedly learning that life is precarious, terrifying and deeply unfair, do you really want to waste a precious hour of it snooping around holiday homes with Sandi Toksvig? What’s left? For me, it’s gardens; Monty Don’s dogs. Nigella. That mindfulness bit in Springwatch when you get to watch a hedgerow in real time, with no music or commentary, for a blissful 1 minute 38 seconds.
