Imagine: Sitting For Lucian Freud (BBC1) World Weddings: Gay On The Cape (BBC2): IN these days of hype and PR spin, it's rare to come across a famous person who doesn't want to talk into a microphone or face a camera.

Painter Lucian Freud is such a person, which makes producing a TV profile of him a little difficult.

Director Jake Auerbach circumnavigated this problem by ignoring Freud himself and talking to his family, friends and sitters to build up a portrait of the artist.

Now in his 80s, Freud has dedicated himself to painting the human form, often unclothed and in what appear unflattering terms. He makes people look uglier than they are - and doesn't care what people think. His portrait of the Queen was described as a travesty by the Press and probably as something unprintable by Prince Philip.

So what did we learn about the painter, apart from the fact that he doesn't give interviews? Well, he's something of a philanderer and has sexual charisma; he's hugely demanding and work is his first priority; he's considerate to his models, and his energy comes across while painting.

Those who sit for him have to spend a lot of time being painted. One person spoke of posing for six hours, three or four nights a week for months on end. The process is long and often physically uncomfortable but the pleasure of his company makes up for that.

One model spoke of being fed on woodcock and champagne, which sounded much more congenial than painting by numbers on your own.

The long process has advantages, as painter and friend David Hockney suggested. "Being slow means he can talk, get to know the person and watch the face do a lot of things. That's obviously part of his method," he said.

Daughter Esther Freud agreed. She began sitting for him when she moved to London at 16 and found it "a very good way to get to know him".

This was all fascinating stuff, as is the World Weddings series of documentaries. The latest, Gay On The Cape, followed gay couple Mark and Cengey as they prepared for their unofficial wedding ceremony.

Post-apartheid, all forms of discrimination were banned. Although there's no official recognition of same sex unions, the country's gay community has flourished.

Mark and Cengey used to cruise gay clubs in search of sex. Now they want to commit to each other and a gay priest is going to help them. Twenty-year-old Cengey even wants to adopt a child.

They certainly argued like an old married couple in the run-up to the event. Travelling salesman Mark failed to send out the invitations. An upset Cengey kept him waiting 75 minutes at the "altar" - which didn't do much for Mark's nerves but did give the documentary a nail-biting finale.

Published: 10/04/2004