TV review

Hear The Silence (five)

A GIRL found living in a kennel is caught on camera on all fours, barking like a dog and lapping water from a tap with her tongue.

A mother wants to know why her young son has stopped speaking, become unusually vulnerable to disease and is no longer the happy child she knew.

These were two images of childhood in two different programmes about sick children and the efforts to get to the root of their problems.

The opening images of the barking girl provided a shocking start to Wild Child. Oxana, from the Ukraine, had been left outside by her alcoholic parents and formed a bond with the family dogs.

A concerned neighbour brought her plight to light, raising the question: are children shaped by nature or nurture?

Oxana, who'd had little contact with humans, could hardly speak. She copied the habits of the creatures around her. Surrounded by dogs, she became more like a dog than a human.

Wild Child told of other feral children, for the problem is not as limited as you'd think. Scientists have long been eager to explore the phenomenon but are restricted by being unable to set up experiments with children. They can only learn from cases brought to their attention.

An American doctor who introduced a chimpanzee into his home was alarmed to find that instead of the animal becoming human, his 18-month-old son began displaying monkey characteristics.

Modern technology can show doctors how a child's brain has developed through lack of proper human stimulation. What can't be done as easily is changing society's attitude to feral children. Oxana, for instance, lives in a home for the mentally ill despite doctors' efforts to rehabilitate her.

A feeling of hopelessness also permeated Hear The Silence, a drama-documentary centred around the MMR debate. This was a brave attempt to put a human face on the subject, through the stories of a mother of an autistic child and the gastroenterolgoist who first spotted the potential link between the vaccine and regressive autism.

Occasionally, you felt the drama grind to a halt for the facts to be explained to the viewer. But no one could complain if it erred on the side of the mother and doctor rather than the politicians, funders and other medics lined up against them. They had enough difficulty getting their voices heard in real-life that they deserved a chance here.

Having two top-notch actors, Juliet Stevenson and Huge Bonneville, in the leading roles helped tip the scales in their favour, too.

The mother's despair at the succession of closed doors encountered as she set out to discover "why this happened to him" was agonisingly depicted by Stevenson. Bonneville's doctor became increasingly world-weary as his bid to publish a paper on the vaccine came up against hospital officials and politicians.

Cinderella, Empire Theatre, Sunderland

When the lights went down at the Empire on Friday night there was a great cheer of anticipation. The Fairy Godmother entered and everyone 'ooohed' at her sparkly costume. But then things began to go downhill. Jean Fergusson, who I'm told is in the long-running TV series Last of the Summer Wine, sadly has no singing voice. This needn't be an obstacle, as demonstrated by Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, but the moral of this story is, if you can't sing, don't.

Darren Day as Buttons had the kids on his side at the outset, getting them to be in his gang, but threw it away as the panto progressed by too much fast talking. His impressions of Stephen Gateley and Ronan Keating went down well, but snide remarks about the media went way over the kids' heads.

Mark Two and Simon Bashford as the Ugly Sisters provided most of the laughs, and their frequent costume changes were inventive and outrageous enough to provoke cries of 'Oooh! Ugleee!' from the audience.

Highlights were the appearance of Cinderella's coach complete with two dear little snowy-white Shetland ponies, and the blackout routine with luminous puppets.

Kate Heavenor was pretty and appealing as Cinders, although her singing was all but drowned out by the backing. Tim Churchill's Prince Charming was tall and handsome with a fine voice - all you could ask for really.

I love panto, and I really wanted to enjoy Cinderella, but sadly I was disappointed.

Sue Heath

* Runs until January 11. Box Office: 0191-5142517

Mother Goose's Silver Jubilee, York Theatre Royal

A less-than-perfect Berwick Kaler pantomime is still far better than virtually any other Christmas show in the land. The press night performance had only been going a few minutes before a technical hitch brought the curtain down again. The show resumed after a brief pause, but the glitches persisted. Thankfully Kaler and his team carried on regardless as they celebrated his 25th year in panto in York.

Once the problems are ironed out, this jubilee panto will be very good indeed. Already, it bears the hallmarks that have kept audiences - "me babbies, me bairns" - flocking to see Kaler's Dame. It's colourful, funny, mad, zany, tuneful and has Kaler's Old Mother Goose (or, to give her her proper name, Sharon Minger) orchestrating events like a demented ringmaster in drag.

If you want a narrative, forget it. As the villainous D-Man notes on visiting an allotment: "This is the closest you'll get to the plot this year." It has something to do with rescuing Camilla the goose that lays silver eggs. This is an excuse for such delights as an inflatable Taj Mahal, a formation of flying pigs, a big production number on the wings of a bi-plane, plus appearances by Jonny Wilkinson, the Osbournes and Anne Robinson. Where else but in a Kaler panto would you see a giant goose having tea in Betty's? If you only go to see one panto this festive season, this is the one to see.

Steve Pratt

l Runs until January 31. Tickets (01904) 623568.