Young Nuns

BBC One

25.10.11

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I failed to complete the second-hand embarrassment of Up For Hire due to being, rather ironically, hired. (Is that ironic? Perhaps only to Alanis Morissette.) But unemployment beckons once again, and so I will proceed with Richard Bacon's nuggetty employment wisdomosity – but not today! For today, this day of all days, I will discuss with you, dear reader, Young Nuns.

I think I have decided on the direction of this blog, little reader. It will natter about programmes not nattered elsewhere; I will review the unloved and unseen; the necessary, schedule-propping underdogs of TV. The go-to review-zones can squeeze the life from shiny generic splodges in heavily promoted 9pm slots, but I will embrace all manner of dying quirk suffering from a dearth of viewers. Basically, BBC4 should be happy. And if a programme is preceded by a hashtag, it can kindly switch itself off. I don't do hashtags.

But back to Young Nuns, who must be ageing after all this talk. Graduate Clara and student Catherine have always dreamt of becoming nuns – and with siblings named Benedict and Frances, it's not too hard to see why. But despite a strong Catholic upbringing, the girls' families and friends still seem amazed that this is the path they have chosen to traverse. The documentary follows the girls as they gear up to leave their everyday lives behind.

This was a surprising and unexpected programme – surprising because it was not a BBC3 gawp-fest, and unexpected because Christianity was at the forefront. With probably only Songs of Praise shouldering the BBC's entire religious remit nowadays, this documentary was a brave and really rather clever move.

A matter-of-fact tone and a clear focus on the (relateable, likeable) girls went a long way to portraying nuns as an appealing bunch. Whether bouncing a shuttlecock between them as they played badminton in habits or casually chatting about Facebook, nuns really started to seem quite with it. But the more magical and wonderful the nuns were portrayed, the more fraught the idea of becoming one felt for the girls; in time, the notion of devoting oneself entirely to God became too daunting and neither continued nunning. (...Nunning?)

As a documentary, it quietly observed the ways of our predominantly secular culture through a non-judgemental camera. Some things just are, like the tiny schoolgirl aghast at the idea of a life without make-up ("But make-up is the item of the girl!" she cried, as a thousand feminists wept. "You need it to feel better about yourself!"). Such bittersweet naivety resulted in a wry smile, and life as a nun started to sound strangely ideal.

I would love to know if Clara ever returned to the order, and whether Catherine was allowed to formally enter. Their enthusiasm for what must be the most alternative of contemporary lifestyles was really quite inspirational, and the two of them made this documentary as fascinating as it was.

Unfortunately I do not know any nuns, but after watching this documentary I really would like to. And heck, I might even change my religion and become one – well, at least for Hallowe'en.