Channel 4 documentary heads to Brent to discover the secret to a happy marriage

What makes a happy marriage? It’s a question countless have pondered, frantically googled, composed poems about, quizzed relationship therapists on… but could the people of Brent have found the answer?

The London Borough has one of the lowest divorce rates and highest marriage rates in the country, and is the subject of a new Channel 4 documentary called How to Make Your Marriage Work.

After forty years of rising divorce rates, the secret to a happy, or at least functional, marriage is more sought after than ever, and according to the longest married couple on the show Kevin and Margaret, arguments are crucial.

“These couples who say they've been married 40 years and never had an argument…that's not a marriage, I'm telling you," says Kevin.

Margaret and Kevin, who met and married age 21, are one of five Brent couples featured in the Channel 4 documentary.

Despite struggling during the early years of their marriage and even at one point seeing other people, they battled on.

Their marriage may have been volatile in the past but these days things are much quieter – when asked about their sex lives Kevin replied: "I can't even manage to raise a smile these days", while Margaret joked: "It's a cup of tea and a custard cream," with Kevin adding: “that certainly lasts longer!”

As well as Kevin and Margaret we hear from childhood sweethearts Matthew and Martinah who met at school aged 15, with Martinah falling pregnant at 16.

Although Matthew has cheated several times, including with his wife’s best friend, the two have been married for 10 years with Martinah refusing to become another divorce statistic.

Meanwhile Juliana’s Muslim family disapproved of her marriage to divorcee Paris so much that she wasn’t informed of her father’s death until 6 months after it happened.

For producer and director Philippa Robinson, meeting the pairs was a ‘refreshing experience’:

“It was such a refreshing experience to spend time with the couples in this documentary. With incredible honesty, they talk touchingly about whether married life has matched up to the hopes and expectations of that joyous wedding day and whether their marriage has been for better or for worse.”

How to Make Your Marriage Work airs tonight on Channel 4 at 10pm.