In this charming and sometimes absurd documentary on the lighter side of loss, the vicar and broadcaster tries to move beyond the death of his partner – by taking up wacky activities
In the function room of a Northamptonshire cricket club, a circle of women stand with two thumbs up, chortling heartily at the TV presenter in their midst. They are enjoying their regular session of “laughter yoga”, the presenter is the Rev Richard Coles and this is Good Grief (Channel 4), a documentary that can be described as a look at the lighter side of bereavement.
Coles lost the love of his life, David, in 2019. He has already published a book, The Madness of Grief, on his painful experience of widowerhood. While it is easy to regard TV as a medium in which definitive statements must be made, Good Grief does not do this. Instead, in the finest traditions of the celebrity travelogue, it takes Coles on a tour of the UK and beyond, meeting people who have responded to the death of a loved one by taking up quirky, cute or daunting hobbies. Tracked by a charming illustrated map, Coles embarks on a trip that takes in boxercise in Wellingborough, chatting to alpacas in the Cotswolds and a dinner party full of strangers in London.
