On TV

Ali has thinning hair, arthritis and his brittle bones are becoming weaker and weaker. The sad thing is that this little Indian boy is only seven years old. His parents, Bisul and Rajia, can only watch as the youngster turns into an old man before their eyes.

Even worse for the Khan family is that five of their seven children suffer from the same rare disease, progeria. Two of them have already died.

The condition has been featured in at least one previous documentary. Bodyshock went further by focusing on a whole family with the disease, an extraordinary situation when you consider there are only 42 cases known to exist worldwide.

Sufferers are usually found in isolation. There's a one in four million chance of a child having the disease. This family, from a remote Indian village, has the dubious distinction of being the only family in the world with more than one child with progeria.

There was a point to the Bodyshock programme other than to expose to a wider public this particular illness. It showed how the Khan children were being used to try to help others with progeria.

Dr Chandon Chattopadhyay has championed the cause of the progeria children, continuing the good work that his grandmother did alongside Mother Teresa.

The Khans have two children unaffected by the disease. The three surviving are "a unique experiment of nature". He hopes a comprehensive sets of tests over three days will help understand the disease and enable him to offer help for their future.

Kramul is 19 and his sister Rehana is 17. Both have lived longer than other progeria children. Most die by the time they're 13, with a few surviving into their late 20s.

The children have the same hopes and fears of any teenagers, even if going out in public is, as their father said, a circus because of the way they look.

They must realise how ill they are but Kramul says thoughtfully: "We don't wish other children's parents to cry. We don't want other children to suffer."

The results of the tests showed they have healthy hearts, possibly because malnutrition stopped them developing heart disease. That's good as most progeria suffers die from cardiac problems.

But doctors found their crumbling bones were in a worse state than expected. The smallest infection could prove fatal.

Researchers worldwide are looking for a cure. A cancer drug seems to offer some hope. It may be too late for Kramul and Rehana but, for younger brother Ali, time may be on his side.

The children were taken on a boat trip for the first time as a reward for undergoing the tests. Their joy at the treat made for a bitter-sweet ending to the documentary - seeing them so happy but knowing time was short.

The Cinematics, Bulletproof, Newcastle

It mustn't be easy for an up-and-coming band to play at a nightclub like the 2,000-capacity Bulletproof because people are there to dance. Despite a large number of people retreating to the bar when The Cinematics came on stage, those who stayed were treated to a 30-minute set from a band who are highly likely to go onto big things this year.

They stormed through the set and finished with Break, a radio-friendly, catchy rock number that is due out on March 6. Break is a stand-out track that should launch them into the mainstream. However, it was first single, Chase, that stood out most. Its beautiful melodic riff and spiky vocals made it one the best songs of the latter half of 2005.

Over the past four years, bands like The Bravery, The Features and The Libertines have all used Bulletproof as a launch pad for their careers. Like Franz Ferdinand, The Cinematics' blend of catchy rock looks set to make them a firm indie favourite.

Keir Waugh

The Research, The Other Rooms, Newcastle

What makes The Research so good is that they aren't a guitar orientated band. Drums, a bass guitar, and a keyboard are all this Wakefield trio need to create their perfect blend of rock and pop.

Throughout this 35 minute set it was impossible not to have a huge smile on your face because the show felt more like an evening with old friends.

Despite the singer sitting down to accommodate the keyboard which he plays on his knee, The Research have a fantastic stage presence.

Leeds based band The Lodger were a strange yet thoroughly enjoyable opening support band. Sadly, The Chalets failed to live up to expectations. The duel lead female vocalists sounded good together but their tracks failed to move out of first gear.

Keir Waugh

Green Beans, The Customs House, South Shields

KITCHEN sink drama - that, in essence, is what Green Beans is with the kitchen table, where meals are served, hearts poured out and pasts chewed over, standing squarely on the set as the main focus of this the second offering in the venue's home-grown February Drama Festival.

But Rosalind Wyllie's play brings a very modern slant to the kitchen sink genre. It's quirky as it delves back and leaps forward through time and re-writes itself in the process through the perception of leading character Sarah (Victoria Elliott).

The writing is tight and sharp as it explores family relationships and the humour is pithy.

The author may have gained a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Northumbria last year yet, this is her first full-length stage play.

It's also a first for Carol McGuigan as a director at The Customs House, though the writer and actress is no stranger to this stage. She acquits herself admirably in the director's shoes, inspiring confidence and control in her three women/one man cast.

Both sisters (Samantha Phyllis Morris is Lucy) are credible and rounded in their roles and Micky Cochrane plays a good part as the Geordie, psychology babbling Tom, but Jacqueline Phillips' strong and spiky mother, Rita, with her killer instinct was my favourite.

l Until Saturday. Box office: 0191-454 1234, www.customshouse.co.uk

Nicola Marsden