Normal For Norfolk

A look at the workings of a modern country estate
Ben-Felsenburg-colour-176Those who idly fantasise about the delights of owning their very own stately pile should spare a thought for Desmond MacCarthy. He’s the very modern country squire at the heart of Normal For Norfolk (Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm), devoting his life to keeping beautiful 17th-century Wiveton Hall financially afloat.

The setting couldn’t be better: not far from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s country home, it’s just across the marshes from the sea and boasts a riot of intoxicating colour as harvest season approaches. But in the 21st century, landed gentry have little time for soaking up the scenery. From reaping crops to running an acclaimed cafe, MacCarthy does all he can to bring in the income needed to sustain this splendid relic of the Jacobean era. He’s not alone: mother’s there too (at a sprightly 99 years old), while his children Isabel and Edmund have pleasingly so far resisted the lure of city life and are mucking in with dad, even happily feeding the tourists if the need arises.

MacCarthy’s a winning soul who has the humour and selfdeprecating charm to inspire loyalty and love from his family and the estate’s employees, declaring, ‘I’ve probably got arrested development. I’ve never grown up properly because I’ve never moved away.’ One’s heart goes out to him, and you can only wish him well in his striving to salvage something of history. Whatever happens to the house, he has kept the spirit of old England alive. 

NOT TO BE MISSED

tv-not-to-be-missed

Britain’s Got Talent (Sat, ITV, 7pm)
Bring on the dancing dogs – and more. The juggernaut of prime-time guilty pleasures is back with the ageless Ant and Dec at the helm.

Europe: Them Or Us (Tues, BBC2, 9pm)
Befuddled by the dinner-party debate on the June referendum? Nick Robinson rides to the rescue with this erudite two-part guide.

Paul O’Grady’s An imal Orphans (Thurs, IT V, 9pm)
O’Grady braves the heat of the Borneo jungle for a close encounter with orang-utans, turtles and gibbons saved by heroic conservationists.