Absolutely India: Mancs in Mumbai, review: a sweet mix of travel show and family bonding
The title of Absolutely India: Mancs in Mumbai was faintly alarming. Was ITV sending a bunch of lairy Northerners out on the lash? Thankfully not. It was a sweet mix of travel show and family bonding session, as the Thomas brothers went in search of their roots.
Emmerdale actor Adam, Coronation Street star Ryan and former Love Islander Scott embarked on the trip with their father, Dougie, who had disappeared from their lives for several years after splitting from their mum but was now back in the fold. Dougie’s father, Nolan, emigrated from India to Britain in 1947, and the boys knew little about him. Here was their chance to find out, aided by a healthy programme budget (a stay in the Oberoi, don’t mind if we do).
The show breezed by on the strength of the brothers’ openness and easy charm. They seemed guileless – well, as guileless as TV performers can be – and threw themselves into everything with gusto, from entertaining children at Nolan’s old school to trying street food. They sampled fire paan, which seems to be India’s answer to a flaming Sambuca, and cheerily proclaimed it the worst thing they had ever tasted. And they found everything hilarious. “They call it Mumbai now.” “Why do they call it Mumbai now?” “It just sounds better.” Cue guffaws.
The brothers claimed to know nothing about Mumbai, which must mean they don’t watch much TV. Trevor McDonald and Michael Portillo have visited by train, Anita Rani and Dan Snow have broadcast from its railway station, and TV chefs can’t get enough of the place. They ticked off the sights – the Gateway of India, the Taj hotel – and visited the Times of India building, where Nolan got his first job aged 18. It was reminiscent of Who Do You Think You Are? but with Dougie’s behaviour as the elephant in the room.
This was the first of a series, and future episodes will delve deeper into how the boys were affected by their father’s abandonment. It’s a tricky combination to get right, cheery travelogue and family soul-searching, but it works surprisingly well.
