4 February, 2010
By Sam WollastonSource: The Guardian
You know those TV shows about people who move to another country? There have been a few; I forget the names. Brits Abroad? Nightmare in Paradise? The ones where they go to France or wherever, fall in love with a beautiful little white house with blue shutters, vines, and possibly a cypress tree. And it only costs £40,000, so they sell up in Blighty, resettle in Wherever-sur-Blah. And it’s bliss. For about five minutes. But then their builders rip them off, the money runs out, the water is turned off, they don’t speak the language, the locals hate them, and it turns out they don’t actually own the new place at all. So they’re broke, scared and lonely. You know the ones: quite good fun. In some ways Moving to Mars (More4) is a bit like that. Here are two families leaving one country to go and live in another. But there are a few key differences; these people are moving out of necessity, not choice. They get little say in where they end up. And, as a viewer, instead of getting some kind of sadistic pleasure out of watching them mess up, you really, really want it to work out for them. It’s a lot more interesting, and a lot more moving. We’re talking about Karen people, from Burma. Persecuted in their home country, thousands have lived for years in a massive refugee camp in Thailand. Now, these two families are being rehoused permanently. Where? It’s obvious, isn’t it, the next place in a logical progression: from Burma to Thailand to . . . Sheffield!
