Here’s a thought that will make you feel old. Or worried. Or both. The poke-fun-at-celebrity-houses series Through the Keyhole — originally presented by Loyd Grossman — was first broadcast as a segment on TV-am in February 1983. That means that we are now as far away in time from Through the Keyhole’s first episode as its debut was from the end of the second world war.
It has endured almost till the present (I actually preferred the Keith Lemon version to the stilted and slightly turgid original) because it’s such an addictive format. Most of us fancy ourselves as amateur psychologist sleuths, picking up on those telling details missed by others less blessed with our perspicacity. And of course who doesn’t like snooping round other people’s houses, either giving their good taste our seal of approval or, more often, sneering at how woefully they fall short? Snobbery, prurience and parlour-game guessing: the formula is perfect.
I never imagined the modern BBC could be so playful and self-aware
So we can hardly blame the BBC for ripping it off wholesale in its new series This Is My House.
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