Eight celebs try out life in the REAL exotic Marigold Hotel, but some struggle to cope
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Eight pensioners jet off to India to see if the country would appeal for retirement - but mainly to entertain us - in this charming travelogue inspired by the hit movie of (nearly) the same name.
But first thing's first – haven't they all aged well? This could be called 'How To Look 30 Years Younger'.
Look at ex Corrie actress Amanda Barrie for instance – she's 81. The Three Degrees' Sheila Ferguson could be 40 but she's actually 69. And Lionel Blair, who dances a jig around Kerala airport, is 88 for goodness sake, while actor Paul Nicholas, 72, still oozes that boyish charm. It's like Cocoon.
(Photo: BBC Pictures)
(Photo: BBC Pictures)
Anyway, once you've spent the first ten minutes Googling their ages and panic ordering a new face cream, you can start to enjoy their company.
They are also joined by Mirror columnist Dr Miriam Stoppard, 79, snooker champ Dennis Taylor, 68, TV chef Rustie Lee, 63, and conservationist Bill Oddie, 75.
The group are to live together in Kochi, a city in Kerala, for four weeks, to test out the environment for their golden years. But first they must get used to living with each other.
(Photo: BBC Pictures)
Sheila immediately manipulates Bill into swapping rooms. Lionel is tearful because he misses his wife, and even has a teddy bear to take to bed. Bill and Paul set off in search of some underpants for Paul – his wife forgot to pack them, he claims. While Rustie is on a terrifying one-woman cooking mission in the kitchen. “It's not a control thing,” she says, not very convincingly.
Most of them are charmed by Kochi, with Miriam even bopping away at a street party, but with animals roaming the streets and piles of rubbish everywhere, Lionel finds it hard to cope.