Root and branch inquiry

WHEN it comes to programme titles, there’s one word in particular that’s seriously overused.

- Mike Ward

That word is “secret”. (Or “secrets”, plural. For the sake of the point I’m about to make, I’m lumping them together. I hope that’s OK.)

To name but a few examples, we've had Secret Life Of Dogs, Secret Life Of Cats, Secret Life Of Babies, Secret Life Of Twins, Secrets Of The Royal Palaces, Secret Life Of The Zoo, Secrets Of The Middle Aisle, M&S: Secrets Of The Food Hall and, last but by no means least, Secret Squirrel.

Which would be fine, were it not for one small detail. Namely, that these programmes rarely live up to their names. While I don’t deny they’re usually packed with information, much of it jolly interesting, rarely do they reveal actual “secrets” as such. They just tell us stuff we don’t know.