Real Life: You Will Know Them By Their Trail of Death (ITV1, Sun): IF, like me, you only have the five terrestrial channels and you don't like wall-to-wall sport, this weekend didn't provide much viewing pleasure.

The BBC is obviously trying to get its money's worth with its Olympics coverage and has decided to shelve everything else - apart from some random repeats of Allo Allo and Keeping Up Appearances. This meant I ended up watching this documentary that I would normally have failed to interest me.

Despite the wordy title this was a very moving tale of two women's fight for justice for their husbands.

Had their husbands not died of cancer contracted by working with asbestos, Pauline Bonney and Joan Baird would never have met. But sadly they did lose their men and most of the programme was a tribute to the loving husbands with touching photographs and heart-felt memories replayed. These were ordinary men but somehow details of their very normal lives only made their deaths seem more poignant.

Both women were devastated by their husband's deaths but decided to turn their sense of loss into a quest to find out how and why they worked and died because of asbestos.

Their journey took them to South Africa to see abandoned asbestos mines which officials claim are closed down, but a simple walkabout revealed asbestos dust on the ground near people's homes.

A newly-built church is killing its congregation thanks to the deadly blue-asbestos used in its construction.

Back in the UK experts are at loggerheads about the dangers of the substance. Some claim it is like electricity or gas - safe if left alone but deadly if moved or abused.

Others compare it to a radioactive material and its discovery in one woman's bathroom resulted in her home being boarded up until it was removed.

Another woman who worked with asbestos was interviewed on her deathbed - a pretty compelling argument about the dangers of this substance. Watching these two women's emotional journey made me hope we were going to see a conclusion with some of their unanswered questions resolved.

But I was being naive. None of the companies who mined or worked with asbestos would speak to the women - in front of a camera it could have been incriminating but would a private meeting with two widows have been so difficult?

The programme ended with no answers for Pauline, Joan or the viewers, which was highly frustrating for all concerned and made me wonder whether this intrusion into private grief had really been worth it.

Published: 16/08/2004