The Secret Life of The Pub, TV review: Documentary didn't answer the obvious question

Channel 4 rigged an East End boozer with cameras, allowing us to eavesdrop on the conversations that took place there

No half measures: ‘The Secret Life of the Pub’ (Rachel King/Channel 4)

None of the patrons in The Secret Life of the Pub had stories outrageous to tell, but that didn't stop them telling them. In the manner of previous docs The Secret Life of Four-Year-Olds and The Secret Life of Dogs, Channel 4 had rigged an East End boozer with cameras, allowing us to eavesdrop on the conversations that took place there.

The problem with this approach is that anyone who's ever been to the pub – every British human, in other words – already has a fairly good idea of conversations that go on inside, and may even have participated in a few themselves.

There are the "would you rather…?" hypotheticals, the work-related moans, and the maudlin regrets… Ah, so many regrets. This doc provided entertaining examples of them all, but nothing to answer the obvious question for viewers: wouldn't you rather just be in the pub?