WHEN the BBC decided to start previewing clips of its programmes on YouTube, it had perhaps hoped for a boost in viewing figures, or maybe even a debate in the online forum underneath the clip.
For The Real Cherie (BBC 1, 9pm) , it has had just one comment: More Cheese Gromit?
It has to be said, Cherie does look remarkably animated during her set interviews with Fiona Bruce, whose camera crew was allowed to follow the last few weeks of Cherie's life as the prime minister's wife [note to anyone from Mars, her husband has changed jobs since, not wives, hence the past tense].
And this isn't one of those 'thanks for letting me come in, I'll go easy on you interviews' either. In fact, Michael Parkinson is nowhere in sight. Cherie does have tricky questions to answer - such as the allegation she has cashed in on her position. She refutes that entirely, but only after originally refusing to answer the question. But Fiona Bruce wouldn't let her refuse. Top work.
Of all the programmes we've had to mark the end of Blair, this is possibly the most insightful because it actually involves getting inside what Cherie has called in the past, the goldfish bowl.
Away from answering her critics, we see her going about her daily life, although when she's trying to make out that she's a regular in the kitchen, she does look a tad lost when trying to find things. But to suggest that any of it was stage managed in order to get a quick jibe at Labour's decade of spin would be churlish. And as for Euan Blair not even flinching when Cherie asks if he is going to watch the Champions League final with 'Daddy' (the answer is no, by the way) - well maybe it's time he got a spin doctor to repair his street cred.
But all credit to Cherie for inviting the cameras in. She can't stand the media and I daresay many will use this programme to cement their beliefs about her. But watch it, and then ask yourself: Could you raise a family in a flat above the most politically-active hotbed in the UK without making a few mistakes?
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