More fearsome than a dragon (From The Northern Echo)

More fearsome than a dragon

11:55am Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

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The Business Inspector (Five, 8pm)
The Berlusconi Show (BBC2, 7pm)
The Man Who Ate Everything (BBC4, 9pm)

SHE might strike fear into the hearts of the owners of struggling businesses in Five’s new series The Business Inspector, but self-made millionaire Hilary Devey was herself terrified when she had a stroke after having cosmetic surgery last year.

The 52-year-old businesswoman, who made her millions in the haulage industry, went under the knife for a supposedly simple liposuction procedure, but was left fighting for her life when complications arose.

“It was incredibly scary. The most I’d ever had was a bad cold, so to go from never having an illness to being told I had a stroke, I couldn’t believe it,” she says.

But, a year on, Hilary is fighting fit and the same rugged determination that saw her battle back from the brink of death is plain to see when she tackles problem businesses in her new show.

Every week she will tackle two British businesses and try to transform them into success stories.

Naturally, Hilary thinks the show will be a huge success and, given the fact that she single-handedly built her business from scratch, who are we to argue?

“People will love it because it is very diverse.

It’s educational, interesting and Rum And Coca Cola Quarry Theatre West Yorkshire Playhouse IF nothing else, this updated version of Mustapha Matura’s play – first staged in 1976 at London’s Royal Court Theatre – injects sunshine and warmth into the gusty, damp British spring weather.

There is much more to enjoy in this two-hander, set on a beach in Trinidad, as Professor, a calypso expert, and his young protege, Slim, attempt to make a living by entertaining tourists.

Those looking for a plot will search in vain in this coproduction between the Playhouse, Talawa Theatre Company and English Touring Theatre.

The 90 minutes pass pleasantly enough – the evening enlivened by calypsos before the more dramatic second half when the efforts to bridge the generation gap get more dramatic.

Actor Don Warrington – of Rising Damp and, more recently, Strictly Come Dancing fame – makes his directorial debut with the play and is content not to impose too heavy a hand on the proceedings, but allow it all to happen like the sea lapping on the shore on a lazy day on the beach.

He is well served by his two actors – Victor Romero Evans as the older man, eager to share his knowledge of calypso with the younger man, Marcel McCalla’s Slim. They sing and play well together, and feel as though they might be mentor and student in real life.

■ Until April 3. Tickets 0113- 213-7700 and wyp.org.uk Steve Pratt there’s some quite sad, moving and spontaneous moments.”

In the first programme, she’s in Milton Keynes, where two cousins opened a flower shop four years ago, but have yet to make enough money to take a wage.

She then visits Warwick, where an entrepreneur’s event company is failing to capitalise on his good ideas.

Her no-nonsense approach might win her few friends, and there were a few tense moments during filming when she clashed with the very people who needed her help. “Sometimes I think they hated me when I was giving them a dressing down because I’m very particular about how things should be done,” she says.

“It’s amazing how many people out there don’t have the right idea. Hopefully, it comes over that I’m only trying to help, but there are times when my advice has been met with resistance.”

IN Britain, we crucify politicians for the slightest misdemeanour, so heaven knows what we would make of Silvio Berlusconi if he was our prime minister.

The charismatic Italian PM has been in office on three occasions, during which time he has been accused of embezzlement, tax fraud and false accounting, and attempting to bribe a judge.

Furthermore, the perma-tanned Berlusconi has also had to face allegations about his private life when escort Patrizia D’Addario claimed that she and several other woman-for-hire were paid to attend parties at Berlusconi’s official residencies.

Italian journalist Mark Franchetti presents a profile about one of the world’s most controversial politicians in The Berlusconi Show. He finds a country divided in its opinion, leading Franchetti to ponder how long Silvio Berlusconi can survive in the face of adversity.

EVEN the most open-minded foodies can usually think of at least one recipe that turns their stomach, or an ingredient they’d prefer to pick out of their dishes.

However, Alan Davidson could not afford to be picky – as the man responsible for the Oxford Companion to Food, he had to be open to pretty much everything.

In The Man Who Ate Everything, Andrew Graham-Dixon pays tribute to the intrepid food writer, and finds out just how he went about compiling such an extensive reference book.

From aardvark to Zuppa Inglese, Davidson’s extensive 900-page encyclopedia leaves no stone unturned, as does this fitting tribute exploring how the food writer compiled such an authoritative work.