Mothertruckers, Thursday 10pm, Channel 4
Posted by Jane Murphy
Ever get the feeling someone came up with a catchy programme title then the rest just fell into place? Mothertruckers is a one-off documentary focusing on the growing band of female lorry drivers, who currently make up around two per cent of the industry's workforce.
Now, if you're very easily pleased or have led an extremely sheltered upbringing, you may have been content enough with the novelty value of seeing women drive trucks. (It turns out it's a lot like watching men drive trucks, except most of them swear in slightly higher voices.) But what made this programme so enjoyable were the individual personalities involved.
Emma wasn't sure if she was a ballet dancer who drives trucks or a truck driver who does a spot of ballet on the side. Her dancing career appeared to have been cut short by injury a few years ago, which is when she started trucking for a living instead. But she clearly hasn't hung up her tutu for good - and the cameras followed her as she went to her first dance audition in years.
Vikki used to be a man, but nowadays she's now more than happy being a transsexual trucker. She talked us through her nifty HGV manoeuvres as she backed up her lorry to pick up a rubble bin from a building site. "This is living proof that women can actually reverse," she insisted. (I fully expect to see this clip repeated on Harry Hill's TV Burp.)
Lead "mothertrucker" Wendy appears to be the glue that holds everyone together: she runs an intensive five-day HGV training course and had helped many of the women featured get on the road. "She lives, eats, sleeps and devours trucking," said her colleague Jill. So what's different about training women? "They listen to what you say," Wendy explained. "If you tell them to do something, 99% of them will do it."
So basically, this was Eddie Stobart: Trucks & Trailers with a feminine twist. I quite enjoyed it. How about you?
Picture: Channel 4
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