The Great Penguin Rescue

Episode one
It’s a long way from ‘The Hitman and Her’ to the conservation projects of Cape Town. But even if Michaela Strachan has now been a nature broadcaster for far longer than she was Pete Waterman’s late-night sidekick, she still retains traces of that bouncy proto-ladette. But are these useful skills to help explain the plight of the African Penguin?

It’s a mixed bag. Strachan’s a likeable, earnest presence and the penguins rarely less than adorable, even when they’re clamping volunteers’ fingers in their vice-like beaks. But the opening episode of this series struggles with its tone, lurching violently between quirk and potential tragedy without ever settling down for long enough to grab and hold the attention. Watchable and well-intentioned, but not much more.