Tower Block of Commons
Channel 4, Monday 01 February - 9:00pm - 10:00pm
Lib Dem MP Mark Oaten thinks he knows what to expect from this televised social experiment that sees him and a clutch of fellow MPs transplanted from their comfortable lives to lodge with residents of council tower blocks. He's sure it will involve "eating lots of McDonald's and watching Coronation Street". But within a day of moving into his temporary new home he lies down and weeps after being insulted by a group of mouthy lads. "Ain't you the one that got done for the rent boys?!" Oaten did indeed survive a rent-boy scandal, but, despite the initial setback, he lives easily with his "landlady", Cathy. Meanwhile, shadow Children's Secretary Tim Loughton babysits for tenant Latina and has to plead with her for money to buy a paper. "Are you out of Telegraphs?" he asks the baffled shopkeeper. Tower Block of Commons isn't particularly edifying, yet it's always fun to see MPs flapping around when they become fish out of water. Grimsby Labour MP Austin Mitchell is flippant and uncomfortable, while Tory Iain Duncan Smith blusters daintily when one lady asks him: "How old was you when you lost your virginity?"
VIDEO Plus+: 4772
Subtitled radiotimes
