You can fool some of the people some of the time...

HALFWAY through training Matt Davies's hope of fooling people into thinking he was a stunt man seemed as likely as Angus Deayton presenting Have I Got News For You on Friday.

Matt is an insurance man more used to risk assessing than taking risks. For life-change show Faking It, he accepted the challenge to become a stunt man.

After two weeks, things weren't going well. Matt was still at the nine stone weakling stage. There was also his fear of heights, something of a hindrance as he was required to jump off a high building.

Morgan Johnson was the man trying to toughen him up. "If you get it wrong, it's going to hurt a lot. If you do it right, the way you've been told, it won't hurt," he told Matt.

After seeing him fight, Morgan was unimpressed. "My daughter throws a better punch," was his comment. Matt's athletic prowess seemed lacking in all areas. Or as his teacher said: "Your gymnastic ability is crap".

No wonder Matt, looking both knackered and crestfallen, commented: "You're a tough man to please". It reached a point when Matt confronted Morgan, demanding to know why he was so reluctant to praise him.

Life was no easier when Rocky Taylor, a stunt man for 40 years, arrived on the scene. He was critical of Matt's driving, gun and fencing skills in no uncertain terms.

"He's a nice guy but you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him," he said, summing up Rocky's qualities.

To his credit, Matt overcame his vertigo to perform a simple jump - leaping off a tower and landing on his bottom on an airbag. But would he summon up the courage and, as Rocky wanted, execute a more dramatic front fall in his stunt reel?

Surprisingly perhaps, he managed to fool two of the three judges invited to spot the fake from four possible stuntmen. Actor Steven Hartley got it right, putting several years of playing detective as The Bill's Superintendent Tom Chandler to good use.

Confusingly, another of The Bill cast - Diane Parish, alias DC Eva Sharpe - featured in Babyfather, the returning story of four male friends (David Harewood, Wil Johnson, Fraser James and Don Gilet). Anyone coming fresh to this second series would have needed good police detection skills to follow who was doing what to whom as the complicated relationships unfolded. Happily, the series is written and performed so skilfully that perseverance paid off and you soon find yourself drawn into the action.