Last night's TV: I Do at 92 (Channel 4); Rillington Place (BBC1)

You may not think there’s much to look forward to in getting older, but I Do at 92 shows us that life, if not exactly beginning in your 10th decade, can deliver the most welcome of surprises. Such as the passion, if that’s the right word, that bloomed in the emotional tropical glasshouse that is the Sunrise care home in Surrey, named in defiant irony as it is.

For, at all of 94, Georgina found herself irresistibly attracted to the “come hither” charms of Raymond, a mere 86 (and, inevitably dubbed “toy boy” by Georgina). And so they married, and, as Georgina points out – and here’s the thing to look forward to, all you younger folk – love can be just as “tantalising” and “breathtaking” as first time round (even though in those days you most likely had a bit more breath to take).

In the case of Margaret and Victor, another couple who found new companionship late in life, it is actually better than first time around, given that Margaret went through 35 years of wedlock mainly because she was made pregnant by her fella back in 1953, and he used to knock her around a bit, she says. Eventually she took a stand and got divorced. So far as her emotional life is concerned she appeared happier than ever, though her offspring were less comfortable with her blowing so much cash on a white wedding. It is striking, and touching, to see the extent of role reversal that takes place in these geriatric affairs; now it is the sons and daughters who fret about their parent’s nuptials, and financial and physical health, rather than the other way round.

The third case study, involved Derek and Carolyn. Carolyn may have been Peterborough’s Miss Lovely Legs 1975 – and deservedly so from the photos on the mantelpiece (well, it was all right in the Seventies) – but now she might be just grateful they’ve not yet given in to rheumatoid arthritis. Derek is keen to point out that he “can still perform”, and get his own lovely leg over, though the now-trendy topic of senior sex was mostly avoided (a little prudishly, I thought).

According to the voiceover by Sheila Hancock (herself 83 and still working), more OAPs than ever are getting hitched, and one in 10 of them are finding partners on the web, including on websites such as the compellingly named “Senior Smooch”. None of the couples – barring some cryogenic miracle – will be seeing their silver weddings, with a combined age between them of 484 years, but so what? Just a few days of love and companionship are all they ask, and they are fortunate enough to have it.

You do feel a little sorry for Georgina though. As she and her new hubby took their respective mobility scooters down the aisle to resume life in the care home, you were conscious that Derek has been diagnoses with terminal cancer, and it is getting worse. Georgina? Yes she missed the little things, like the sound of him shuffling around the place in his slippers, but isn’t sorry for herself at all – a magnificent example of humanity at any age and for any age. At 94, she could find love, and she did.

open image in gallery

The last in the BBC’s three-part Rillington Place, the grey visualisation of the life and times of serial killer John Reginald Halliday Christie, ended with Christie on the end of a rope. There’s a legend, not seen in this BBC dramatisation, that as he was being pinioned, ready to meet his maker, Christie complained that he had an itchy nose. Albert Pierrepoint, part-time publican and chief executioner, assured him that “it won’t bother you for long”.

Christie had a few months previously disposed of his wife of 32 years, Ethel, and Samantha Morton’s portrayal of her was superb, and as well-defined as Tim Roth’s creepy Christie. We were left with a few questions about the man who was, until then, the worst serial killer in British history, or at least as far as was known; but even more perplexing questions remained about what Ethel knew and when, and whether she had in some way connived in what “Reg” had been up to, which famously resulted in the execution of an innocent man, Timothy Evans. Could she have saved Evans? That is one itch that will not go away.