On TV

THIS new series should be sponsored by Kleenex. The participants spend a lot of time in tears as counsellor Suzie Hayman dispenses advice and tissues.

Stepfamilies is another example of TV taking on the job of social worker. Is your stepfamily falling apart?, ask the producers. If so, we can offer you expert advice. And those not lucky enough to be featured can phone the helpline announced at the end of the programme.

Suzie Hayman strides down the street to the problem house like House Doctor Ann Maurice, although she has a more sympathetic approach than the hard-hearted interior designer.

Lyn's family was falling apart, we were told. Ryan, 13, hated stepdad Tim. Rachel, ten, wanted to cut off all contact with real dad Steve. Lynn, with two part-time jobs and looking after the home, was at the end of her tether.

Their situation isn't unusual. Over one in ten families in the country are stepfamilies, with two million children in the UK living in a stepfamily.

Hayman, with more than 15 years experience of helping stepfamilies, believed she could save this particular family. A lot of what she says, of course, is common sense but, given the drama being played out in the home, Lyn and her family obviously needed help.

Perhaps they saw taking part in a programme as the last chance to solve their problems but you have to worry about this over-reliance on TV to help.

Stepfamilies could have been sensational and sentimental, but Hayman's no-nonsense approach paid dividends in making good TV. She insisted the family air their views before coming up with her plan, a tough but sensible way to tackle their situation.

The first surprise was that she didn't consider angry Ryan was creating the problem. "We can't just sort Ryan out, we have to sort everyone out," she said.

The way she did this involved the stepfamily hat game, a boast board, chore chart, having Ryan manage his anger by boxing and an egg-timer. If a family member had possession of the egg-timer, then they were entitled to two minutes of uninterrupted talk.

Hayman had to be arbitrator, as when Rachel decided she wanted to sever all links with her real dad. She proved herself a real UN negotiator as she pulled a potentially disastrous situation back from the brink without actually telling anyone what to do, merely suggesting and guiding them surreptitiously in the right direction.

In common with sceptical viewers, Lyn wasn't entirely convinced that the counsellor's methods would achieve the desired results. "I'll give it a go but I'm not 100 per cent certain it will work," she said.

It did, although not before the family had slipped back into battle mode and Hayman had engineered a meeting between former friends Tim and Steve to air their differences.

Stepfamilies could have ended up like an edition of the Jerry Springer show. That it didn't says much for Hayman's skills in bringing families together.