Roger Moroney: The castle of culture, characters and chaos

All appears fine and dandy at this moment but be prepared for some Chaos at the Castle on TV1 on Tuesday.

COMMENT
Well I say old chap, if one is going to open one's historic old castle doors up to the public, and one is going to ensure things are done your way, regardless of what others may suggest, then one is always up for a spot of bother.

More so if one is prepared to open more than the doors of their remarkable old castle to the public for special events, like weddings and conferences.

When they open their lives up to television cameras and sound crews then dear people, it is all on for one and all to watch.

And cast opinions.

Which in the case of a reality (an occasionally loose term in this televisual land) series called Chaos at the Castle, is indeed what happened.

People watch and cast opinions, particularly people called critics.

But it was a tide of public comments which rattled the castle owners and event hosts.

For their hospitality escapades were loosely likened to watching an episode of Fawlty Towers.

The owners of Bickleigh Castle in Devonshire on the banks of the River Exe, Robbie and Sarah Hay, were horrified to read such comparisons, but can't have been too surprised given the way events unfold at this centuries old place.

It does make me wonder why people open up their lives and lifestyles to television shows.

I can only assume there's a few bob in it, and in the case of the place called Bickleigh Castle the opportunity to cast out the great net of advertising about what they have and why you'd really like to go there.

This new series drops the drawbridge for viewer entry on Tuesday night on TV1, and while such "come and see us" shows are now rather well worn, this does have the advantage of being staged across a very remarkable landscape.

I went to a couple of castles in England and they are startling places.

One had some sort of allegedly haunted chamber down some spiralling stone staircase and it was indeed strange.

For a couple of other chambers were, shall we say, reasonably clement to step in to, despite the walls of stone.

But the well-promoted spooky chamber felt about 5C colder.

I put my cynic's hat on and mumbled to an old chap who was also wandering about in there that they must have an air-conditioning system tucked and hidden in there somewhere.

"No," he said quietly, before suggesting I seek out the opportunity of visiting this chamber at midnight.

I replied that I could not as I was heading on my way out of that district later in the day (there was a motorcycle race on at Silverstone in a few days).

Truth was, I would have been too frightened to.

Not sure if the subject of ghosts will emerge from Bickleigh though, although the place certainly looks the part.

There is a Norman chapel and a gatehouse built in the 12th century still on the site, and a 15th century courthouse.

Yep, it's been altered and added to over many hundreds of years.

The Hays, while not exactly Basil and Sybil Fawlty, do possess a sort of "upstairs" stance over their "downstairs" staff.

One of them is a bloke by the name of Richard who is the handyman/groundsman/barman.

Again, while not exactly Manuel the waiter he does cop a bit of flak.

But unlike Manuel, he is far from being a "yes man" and there are some fine moments of what appears to be class-driven tension between them upstairs and him downstairs.

So with that, and the occasional usual rumbles and grumbles form visitors and guests about something they did not feel happy with, there is tension within the fine stone walls.

Or as the title suggests, Chaos at the Castle.

Which makes me wonder (again) how they manage to keep the doors open when chaos apparently rules.

But that's the secret ingredient I reckon.

It has a character all of its own...human and architectural.

It's like it would be if there was a real Fawlty Towers...people would flock there.

Chaos at the Castle, TV1 at 8.30pm Tuesday: The busy summer season is bearing down and the proprietors and front-of-house couple who rule the castle have a bit on their plate.

They have the usual bookings for weddings and events, and visitors arriving for short stays at the adjoining B&B.

But they also have some enlightening and entertaining run-ins with their groundsman and Jack-of-all-trades Richard.

ON THE BOX

Westside, TV3 at 8.35pm tonight: This is the second part of a return double of locally produced shows, airing aboard TV3 tonight.

And a return of the Wests...of West Auckland.

Hard to know how to categorise this colourful glimpse of a Kiwi family and their accomplices and companions.

Is it a soapie with attitude? Whatever it comes in as, it has come in as a success as previous four series' have shown.

Ted and Rita West are the centrepieces...and they have more than just a colourful and solid sort of family surrounding them.

They also have a colourful and solid criminal record.

The Block NZ: Firehouse, TV3 at 7.30pm tonight: I guess this could be described as a DIY show?

They do it themselves..."they" being teams of enthusiastic renovators, redesigners and in some cases wreckers.

And they are there to do "it" up. "It" being a nominated spot which hosts Mark Richardson and Peter Wolfcamp watch closely as the teams vie for a huge prize.

In this series it's all about creating luxury apartments within the walls of a large old fire station in Auckland.

Four teams, four apartments, and four episodes of this building battle during the week.