THE much-anticipated programme about Liskeard's involvement in the Portas Pilot scheme aired on Channel 4.

While the overall tone of the show about Mary Portas' attempts to rejeuvenate the town centre was positive, reaction to the show from people in the town has been mixed.

The town itself with its attractive buildings and lush rural surroundings came out well on film, as did the positivity among its residents who were shown pulling together to clean up Fore Street – but some have criticised the concentration of filming on certain traders, arguing it was not an accurate portrayal of the town's retailers as a whole.

Setting the scene that Liskeard is a market town whose high street shops have suffered since the opening of an out-of-town supermarket and the foot and mouth outbreak, the hour-long programme followed Mary as she tried to bring more people back into the town centre.

Declaring that she wanted Liskeard to be known as a 'foodie town', Mary set about engineering a collaboration between a greengrocer, a fishmonger and a butcher under the brand 'Lip Smacking Liskeard'. Thanks to Andrew Beddoe of the greengrocers shop, Mary was introduced to the concept of 'dreckly', and their banter, and the quietly nonplussed attitude of the three traders, provided much of the show's humour.

Antagonism between Mary and some members of the Portas Pilot Town Team was hinted at over Mary's vision of a 'town shop', with Mary remarking that 'it's like the War of the flipping Roses in this town', but this seemed to be resolved in the end, and a big fuss was made of the official opening of the shop.

Lin Moore of the town's traders association, who spent a lot of time with Mary and had helped source the town shop premises, was thanked for her efforts with a surprise makeover for her daughter's shoe shop.

The town team's projects for Liskeard were conspicuously absent from the film – given it was they who made the original bid for the Portas funding – but then in a show entitled Mary, Queen of the High Street, there was only ever really going to be one focus. However, the team said that they were pleased with the outcome of filming, commenting that 'the beauty of Liskeard and the community spirit of all who live there shone through.'

'We're pleased that Liskeard came across in the show as a pretty market town offering many fantastic reasons for people to come and visit. We appreciate that the town is lucky to have a butcher, greengrocer and fishmonger as well as the other great independent shops,' said town team chair Sally Hawken.

'Community spirit and engagement will always play a vital part in ensuring that the town continues to thrive, so it was brilliant to see so many people pulling together.'

Social media buzzed with comment after the show had aired.

Many grumbled that Mary wasn't quite able to pronounce Liskeard properly and many were amused by the 'rumpy pumpy' delivery boxes.

Generally people were pleased that the town had been shown in a good light.

Some observers noted that the choice of adverts in the commercial breaks – for Sainsburys, Marks and Spencer, and website notonthehighstreet.com – were ironic, given the programme's content and aims.

In a swift written update at the end of the programme, viewers learned that five new shops have opened in the town since filming finished and that Lip Smacking Liskeard has gone online. The update also said that the building chosen to house the town shop has been repossessed.