Hugh And Cry

‘TV corrupts, and a TV series corrupts absolutely.

”These mushrooms are magic!”

The power of the magic box to transform is no more in evidence than in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the old Etonian who lived a Good Life-style existence in River Cottage.

It was all so bucolic and romantic when tousle-haired Hugh began planting his own vegetables and rearing his own livestock.

He entered his veg in a competition at the local meeting hall and bottle-fed a pig.

He ate stinging nettles in an effort to blend in and show the watching townies how fun country life could be - so long as you had an income from the media.

But then he got another series and, a few cook books later, he’s now sold his small holding in favour of a 44-acre farm in Dorset.

He’s added a load of livestock to what was a menagerie which the show’s watchers could get to know by name. And he plans to flog his produce in a new restaurant.

He wants to add value. He wants to turn a profit. He wants to bring in the punters. Hell, he may even want to make faggots sexy.

Farming you see can be fun. It can be rewarding and enriching.

Unless, of course, you grew up on a working farm and have a view of the country that’s not provided by the Guardian newspaper, for whom Hugh writes.

In which case, it’s full of burning sheep, rampant foxes and TV crews…’

Posted: 21st, October 2004 | In: Big Brother TV Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink