Tuesday 2 August 2022 02:00 AM CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night's TV: Ten doughnuts for elevenses! trends now
Susan Calman’s Grand Week By The Sea (C5)
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Inside The Factory XL: Trains (BBC2)
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When you go to see an Elton John robot in concert, you’ll want all the hits — starting with Sprocket Man and Don’t Go Breaking My Parts.
Susan Calman was in Skegness, ‘Meccano centre of the universe,’ at the start of her Grand Week By The Sea (C5) when she discovered the superstar in kit form, on display at a model exhibition.
With a red boater and glittering glasses, the replica was unmistakeable, even though his face was a blank yellow sheet of Meccano. ‘That’s Elton John,’ she exclaimed.
The model-maker, an elderly gent with a marked German accent, corrected her politely: ‘A copy, yes.’ Perhaps he was worried that the likeness was too convincing.
Susan Calman (Right) and Debbie McGee (Left) on the beach in Skegness, ‘
The robot, seated at a metal piano, took five months to build. Susan wondered why the inventor chose Elton. ‘Other musicians are difficult,’ he explained, ‘because nobody recognises them.’
I’m not so sure. Most people would know John Lego and Paul Meccaney.
This was Susan’s first visit to Skeggie and she was intent on cramming a fortnight’s fun into a day. Skipping along the seafront like the town’s Jolly Fisherman mascot, the little Scottish dynamo bought a windbreak on the promenade and set about demonstrating how to nab the best spot on the beach. As any North Sea holidaymaker knows, windbreaks are the easy bit. Wrestling to get the deckchair settled in the
