Criticising how many kids somebody has is a taboo – unless they’re Catholic. Because while we dare not admit it, many of us think people with large families are planet resource-sapping idiots. Sure, we invariably live in the city where there isn’t a harvest to reap, but we called it quits at 2.0. Snip, snip.
Still, when you hear about a couple with five-year-old twins and four-year-old triplets in the same school year, like one of the subjects of Meet the Multiples (DR1, Wed 20:40), your first thought isn’t: “How dare they!”, it’s “Less than three months … after twins! I had to wait over a year after just one!”
But in the end, you’re the winner, albeit a little smug. Lie back and marvel at the chaos. Other people’s misery has never been this good.
In a way, the Rolling Stones should have stopped at 2.0 decades. Fifty years old this year, Crossfire Hurricane, which only premiered at the cinema last month, tells the story of how the world’s most hated group became the most loved. It’s apt that the last scene is footage of the band’s Still Life tour in 1981, but it’s deliberate. The band acted as producers and didn’t want to focus on the last 30 years of relentless touring and forgettable records.
Will the same happen to JK Rowling? Find out in Writing For Grown-Ups (BBC World, Sat 22:30 & Sun 17:30) in which she talks about her first adult (ooh er, Hermione) novel ‘The Casual Vacancy’.
Elsewhere, Out of the Frying Pan is a fun BBC2 cookery show about two likeable rogues; there’s another chance to see the entire first season of Modern Family (TV2 Zulu, Sun 11:05), the whole of Jackal series Carlos (SV2, Sat 21:45), and the first two episodes of BBC’s 2009 drama Emma (BBC Ent, Sat 21:00) starring Romola Garai; there’s theme evenings celebrating our relationships with Mohammed Ali (DRK, Mon 20:00) and shit (DR2, Sat 20:00); meet 400 dollar billionaires in China’s Super Rich (BBC World, Sun 18:30); and find out they weren’t joking in 101 Ways to Leave a Gameshow (TV2 Zulu, Sun 21:00), but we defy you to find anything actually funny.
