Live to 100: Secrets Of The Blue Zones

Live to 100 leans away from woo-woo and self-promotion, and gives us a reasonably compelling investigation into longevity.

Mr. Buettner is a gracious, charming host, perhaps a bit overly solicitous of the adorable elderly he encounters in some locations, but cognizant that not every "secret" is translatable to Americans, who are his target audience.

It all makes for a pleasant travelogue, which comes with what should be a troubling subtext for many American viewers.

If Horizon had made this there’d have been more science and less hopey changey stuff. Antioxidants and bio-active compounds are mentioned in dispatches, but there are no graphs and diagrams explaining the good they do. Instead, to help it all go down, Buettner laces his lecture with the TV equivalent of sugars and fats – comely clips from sun-kissed landscapes and colour-supplement cooking.