Clarissa and the Countryman
Deprived of her partner in crime, the inimitable Jennifer Paterson, the Fat Lady teams up with a childhood friend for a book that is an unashamed "celebration of the countryside". But let no one think Dickson Wright has been casting around desperately for something new to do: this idea was conceived by her some four years ago but, despite her profile, failed to win TV approval. Then, in the wake of the furore that followed the axing of One Man and His Dog, the only "countryside" programme on the box, the concept was revived. The book, and the eight-part BBC TV series accompanying it, finds Clarissa, the born townie, and her childhood friend, a country boy brought up on a Lowland sheep farm, trekking the length and breadth of a country threatened by "urban and political misunderstanding". Why should Westminster, for example, decide on the future of fox-hunting, a necessary part of country life and not just a rich man's pursuit? This time, we're not taught exotic ways with lamb but, instead, see a hill ewe lambing in a snowstorm. A surprising book, perhaps, and one that aims to show a side of country life with which urban folk are largely unfamiliar.