OK, I think it is incumbent upon me as an ethical reviewer to state something up top. I am conscious of our collective emotional fragility in difficult times, so need to say this: do not watch the first episode of Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue without some kind of mental fortification to hand. I am no great animal lover. I prefer them to people, obviously, but given absolute freedom of choice I would be without any sentient being in the bunker with me. I’d like to draw the deadbolts across the blast-resistant doors, switch on the air-filtration system, open a tin and a book and wait out my time in silence without responsibility for any other living soul, thank you.
However, it’s 72 hours since the closing credits of this programme and I haven’t stopped crying. If that’s an unwanted spoiler for some, so be it. I think I’ve saved you some pain overall.
