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The Age

Thursday October 15, 2009

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Blood, Sweat and TakeawaysBBC Knowledge, 9.30pmTHE start of an admirable series in which six young Britons spend four weeks in South-East Asia to get a taste of the hard work and miserable conditions of the workers who produce their food. The Brits have very different takes on food €” one's a fitness freak, one's a junk-food junkie and a couple fancy themselves as gourmet cooks €” but none of them have any real idea of where it comes from. The one who needs the most straightening out is Monaj, the son of a Bangladeshi immigrant, who skites about the fact that others work like slaves so he can have cheap chicken. "If the importers and exporters are exploiting another person so that my price is cheap, so be it," he smirks. Upon arriving in Indonesia, they are shown around the cramped homes of tuna cannery workers, then put to work on the gutting and filleting lines (pictured). Once all the fainting and dry retching is done, the Brits can't decide what's worse €” the revolting work in the sweltering factory or the pittance the factory workers take home. Later, two of the guys head out on a fishing trawler and find life at sea is even harder than working in the cannery.Banged Up AbroadNat Geo Adventure, 9.30pmA HARROWING instalment, even by the standards of this white-knuckle series. In 2004, Canadian journalist Scott Taylor learnt that the US Army was about to launch an assault on Tal Afar in northern Iraq. Taylor and his Turkish colleague, Zeynep Tugrul, headed straight for the city and were immediately captured by insurgents who began torturing them and threatening to behead them. Then, of course, the American assault began.The Fashion ShowArena, 8.30pmWE'RE halfway through this cheap and cheerful Project Runway knock-off, so there's no more of that silly working-in-teams business €” the remaining contestants are now flying solo. The designers' delight at being free to show off their individual genius evaporates immediately upon learning that they have to design outfits for a bunch of "real" women. None of the women looks larger than a size 12 but there's a startling amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth as the contestants face the daunting task of dealing with hips for the first time in their lives. Some of the comments they make about their models leave a sour taste.Worth a lookThe End of the World Cult (CI, 9.30pm)Tabatha's Salon Takeover (Arena, 7.30pm)Deadliest Catch (Discovery, 8.30pm)

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