Lost (C4)

The Slavery Business (BBC2)

YOU'D think they'd have come by now," grumbled one of the plane crash survivors before the opening credits of Lost barely had time to roll.

He obviously hadn't seen the on-screen publicity for this hit US series, those endless trailers on C4 at every available opportunity over the past month.

If he had, he'd know that those who died in the crash were the lucky ones. Survivors are stuck in a TV show that intends to keep both them and us guessing what's really happening on their tropical desert island. Rescue is out of the question until the ratings start to drop.

No matter what develops, Lost had one of the best openings you could wish to see as bruised and bloodied passengers emerged from the burning wreckage scattered along the beach.

Dr Jack (Matthew Fox) swiftly emerged as potential leader, although in need of a little help himself. "Excuse me," he asked a passing woman, "did you ever use a needle, ever patch a pair of jeans?".

"I made the drapes in my apartment," she replied. That was all right with Jack, who handed her a hotel sewing kit and told her to sew up his gaping wound.

Survivors represent a cunning mix of age, gender and race and, over coming episodes, their secrets will be revealed in flashbacks. For starters, we relived the aircraft crashing in vivid detail. I do hope no-one watching was due to fly off on holiday next day.

They are not alone on their island. Strange, eerie noises are heard coming from the jungle. "That was weird, right?," queried a worried survivor. He wasn't wrong.

Sun and sea too in The Slavery Trade: Sugar Dynasty, but no aircraft. This was 18th century Jamaica, where the Beckford family had invested in sugar and slaves, making them one of the richest families in England.

By the time William Beckford of Somerley inherited the family business in 1774, it consisted of slaves, property and 7,000 acres worth £2m at today's rates. His mistake was financing his extravagant lifestyle on credit. "Such eating and drinking I had never seen," wrote a lady traveller. With the campaign against slavery gathering pace at home, his days of lavish living were numbered.

Back in England, his cousin William Beckford of Fonthill was busy spending money, having piano lessons from Mozart, taking nude dips with his schoolboy lover and going into politics. The combination would have made him perfect tabloid fodder these days.

His wife - "a charming creature, no pretensions to intellect" - suggested he visited whores to quash the rumours about his schoolboy passion at a time when sodomy was a hangable offence.

He didn't listen and was forced into exile. On his return, he determined to build the most spectacular house in England. The result was Fonthill Abbey, which cost £20m at today's prices. The programme estimated that more than 3,000 slaves were worked to death to pay for its construction.