Don’t Look Down

(BBC2, times vary)

Kevin McCloud is usually found ruminating on architecture and design matters from the safety of terra firma. But to locate him in this new series you need to look up the edifices he’s considering rather than in them, as he’s shinning up Salisbury Cathedral, the Lloyds Building and four other imposing structures to offer some different perspectives on familiar landmarks.

He opens with the 340ft Forth Rail Bridge, now more than 100 years old. And if the prospect of all those vertiginous camera shots makes you feel a little queasy spare a thought for McCloud, who begins with the admission “I’m not very good with heights.” The 1.5mile “Brontosaurus”, as he describes it, certainly presents McCloud with more than the odd scary vantage point, while punctuating his ascent is a history of its construction. Hugely enjoyable in a way only something so heroically unnecessary can be. (The Daily Telegraph – Television & Radio)