On TV

Torture: The Dirty Business (C4)

CELEBRITIES prefer to leave us guessing whether they've had facelifts or other cosmetic surgery.

Sometimes it's obvious something's been going on. Just think of Lesley Ash and her trout pout or Anne Robinson's smooth new look.

Sherrie Hewson deserves credit for bravery for putting herself on the line in 10 Years Younger and having it done for the cameras, although I could have done without the voiceover describing her as "a star who's definitely lost her shine" and that she "has lived life to the full and has the face to prove it".

They could at least have tried to be serious because it obviously meant a lot to the actress from Coronation Street, Crossroads and, currently, Emmerdale. She's had a bad few years personally, including a messy marriage split, and her confidence is in need of a boost.

Seeing an actress without make-up is always a shock and in Hewson's case, it was difficult not to agree with the view that she looked "tired, jaded and old". The test was asking 100 passers-by how old they thought she was. Guesses ranged from 41 to 70, making an average of 57. She's actually 54, which made a bit of a nonsense of the aim of taking a decade off her.

Her MOT work was extensive - a lower eyelid and neck lift, lip filler, Botox and chemical peel. That was followed by a complete style makeover involving clothes, hair and make-up.

Even all that work couldn't fill the specially-extended hour-long edition so that was interrupted by observations on other celebrities' changing looks.

Kylie's bum was considered as well Liz Hurley's lips and Mary Archer's fragrant complexion. Questions of the "have they/haven't they had work done?" type were asked. Answers contained a lot of "probably" and "possibly" to avoid legal repercussions.

While Hewson let the cosmetic surgeon get on with his work, she was less compliant when it came to her wardrobe. She and stylist Nicky Hamilton Jones fought over what suited her.

The new look certainly made her look younger. "I love it," declared Hewson. Then came the real test as another 100 people were asked to guess her age. The average was 43. Not a bad result.

C4's season on torture threw up The Dirty Business, which presented alarming stories of people seized at airports and then taken to other countries to be interrogated and tortured.

Software engineer Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen originally from Syria, was one of the lucky ones - he only spent ten months in custody. He was beaten with a cane after being detained because he "knew someone who knew someone who unknown to him, was on a terrorist watch list".

He's now suing the US government after being released and absolved of all terrorist links. But clearing his name, you suspect, will be more difficult than removing Sherrie Hewson's wrinkles.

Dracula, Darlington Civic Theatre

TURNING the Prince of Darkness into the bloodsucker of cyberspace becomes quite a programming nightmare as this Bryony Lavery adaptation attempts to draw fresh blood from Bram Stoker's classic ghoul-fest.

Somehow, a set with steep ramps linking five levels has to fashion a journey from Transylvania to Whitby, Essex and Hampstead Heath and back again. Even Richard Bremmer's darkly comic count almost came to grief at one point, or should that be two? Emails, text messages, faxes, CCTV and mobile phones cleverly replace Stoker's original device of Victorian jottings and news reports. And references to TV's Buffy and Dracula opting for the Atkin's Diet were welcome inclusions as today's medical and legal experts wrestled somewhat pathetically with a bloodthirsty legend come to life.

But the fast-paced nature of turning the book into a two-hour tale meant that star names like Christopher Cazenove, as vampire hunter Van Helsing, were flying faster around the set than a bat with its braces on fire. Raunchy goings-on, two video screens, a multitude of characters and some somewhat gabbled serious dialogue in between bursts of red-bloodied comedy ensure that the production isn't quite ready to fly. Laura Howard - famous as Midsomer Murders' Cully - as Mina, and Katie Foster-Barnes as the tragic Lucy are highly watchable, but raised an unintentional laugh as two well-heeled career girls planning a holiday in Whitby. Perhaps a little less light relief and more musically-inspired tension would ensure this drama grips its audience with the passion it deserves.

l Runs until Saturday. Box Office: (01325) 486 555

Viv Hardwick