TV review

Inside The Mind Of Paul Gascoigne (Channel 4)

Darien: Disaster In Paradise (BBC2)

THE outlook was not good - the narrator wondered: "How close is Paul Gascoigne to complete mental breakdown?".

After watching the programme, Gazza might well have been tipped over the edge. It was a bit like someone having a leg amputated without being there, or In The Psychiatrist's Chair with nobody in the chair. But what we heard from psychologists in this trial of the mind by television went a long way towards explaining the antics of a man once considered England's greatest footballer.

This "child trapped in a man's body" would appear to suffer from attention deficiency disorder, obsessive compulsive behaviour and, possibly, Tourette's syndrome, which causes involuntary spasms.

The wisdom of people, no matter how expert, passing such judgements in Gazza's absence is open to debate. But the testimony of friends, fellow players and managers showed they genuinely wanted to help him overcome his considerable problems. They like the man despite his unpredictable, irritating, anti-social behaviour. "He needs a bit of help, and if anyone is worth helping, he is," said Terry Venables.

Events in his childhood - his father's illness and the deaths of two friends - left him vulnerable, craving company and never wanting to be on his own. Players talked of him roaming hotel corridors on tour looking for someone to talk to. After buying a house, he'd call Venables at all hours about dripping taps and gas bills.

The Geordie clown image and tomfoolery off the pitch was all part of this craving for attention. He was only ever truly happy playing football. In the mid-1990s, he told friends he felt hunted and that the only place he felt safe was on the pitch. His father's old drinking club, the Exclesior, in Newcastle was another safe haven.

But he couldn't do things by halves, only to excess - to the extent that eating binges would be followed by making himself sick because of worries over his weight.

Psychologist Professor Kevin Gournay "could only begin to guess at how much suffering was going on inside this man", adding that the array of mental problems besetting him made his achievements all the more remarkable.

The programme will have saved Gazza a fortune in therapy fees. Whether he can overcome his addictions and demons is now up to him.

Dr Mark Horton was as excited as Gazza after winning a match in Darien: Disaster In Paradise. This programme cross-cut between the 1698 Scottish expedition to a Central American isthmus and the modern-day return by Dr Mark's team of archaeologists.

"It's rather jungly I'm afraid," he declared on landing. What did he expect: shag pile carpet? The original expedition - recreated with actors led by Bill Paterson - failed through disease and attack. Half the wealth of Scotland, which had been sunk into the enterprise, was lost, along with many lives.

The modern team had better luck in finding relics and artefacts, although all the excitement over discovering a portable sundial seemed minor to the ordeal of the original expedition.

The Merry Wives of Windsor, Bowes Museum

AN enchanted evening of Elizabethan entertainment, theatre and performance art made the opening night of The Merry Wives of Windsor a wonderfully atmospheric and enjoyable event.

The play is performed outdoors by the Castle Players under a canopy of trees, which creates a stunning backdrop.

Dancers, fairies, lead cast members and a superb royal procession entertain the audience in the grounds both before the production and during the extended interval - when picnickers spread out on the grass to enjoy the still summer evening.

Anthony Howard is excellent as Hugh Evans, the agitated parson who throws off his robes and dons the most provocative and amusing costume towards the end.

Falstaff is brilliantly funny. Loud, brash and lecherous, with his trousers down more than up, Simon Pell is hugely entertaining, regularly interacting with the delighted crowd.

Andrew Stainthorpe also brings an extremely humorous dimension to the character Slender and Andy Moorhouse is superb as the cuckolded Ford. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this outdoor performance is the way the action can be extended beyond the stage. In a device which would be impossible to recreate in most conventional theatres, the queen could be seen making her way down the hill long before she arrived on stage, and the antics of the cast chasing each other about stretched right into the surrounding grounds.

It's rather long - almost four hours from start to finish due to the 45-minute interval. However, if you make the most of the added entertainment, not forgetting your picnic, the evening remains a good one.

Michelle Hedger

* Runs until Saturday. Box Office 0800 074 70 80