One of my guiltiest pleasures these days seems to be consuming huge numbers of cookery programmes, books and magazines.

 

I can’t quite understand why given that I have no skill in the kitchen and, even if I did, I rarely cook anything for myself from scratch. There is just something tantalising about watching delicious meals being created with seemingly little effort at all. I envy them and perhaps I feel somewhere deep inside that if I watch enough meals being prepared on the telly I will somehow develop a talent for cuisine. So far it hasn’t worked.

 

The recent return of ‘The Great British Menu’ was very welcome and after an interesting week of dishes from the Central region, some of which looked tasty and some of which looked revolting (stand up rabbit and pea trifle!), I am looking forward to seeing what chefs from around the rest of the country conjure up.

 

One thing that is a shame about the contest though is that there remains a strong emphasis on heavy, meaty dishes. As someone who, if not exactly a vegetarian, does not particularly like meat I tend to find that there are relatively few recipes on the programme that I would actually cook for myself. Still, as already noted – it’s not exactly as if I would do that anyway.

 

With the Central region done we already have a big shock with last year’s winner being trounced by one of his friends to get through to the next stage. It will be interesting to see how chefs from the other regions far over the next few weeks and perhaps this year I will be inspired to actually cook something as a result of the show.

 

‘Doctor Who’ is one of my favourite television programmes so its return this weekend was something of a treat. Unfortunately a bout of illness kept me from tuning in so I can be grateful to BBC’s iPlayer for allowing me to play catch up.

 

Whilst I was dubious about Catherine Tate’s Donna returning for a full season as the companion I felt that her performance here was strong and a world away from the over-the-top screaming buffoon she gave us in ‘The Runaway Bride’ two years ago. She handled the knockabout stuff well and had some nice tender moments, especially with Granddad who was played superbly by Bernard Cribbens.

 

The story had a whiff of 1970s James Bond about it – a villain who is marked out as such from the beginning with a sublimely over-complicated plan and accompanied by strapping young men with machine guns. In fact the whole piece had a very silly feel to it but it held together reasonably well in the end.

 

Tennant remains a delight to watch on screen and the prospect of another year with him at the helm of the TARDIS is something to cherish. It is sometimes difficult to remember that he has been with the show now for three years – he looks so comfortable in the role that it feels like much longer.

 

The next episode looks like it’ll be a cracker – Pompeii, the threat of imminent death and the superb Peter Capaldi. I’ll be tuning in!

 

Nothing here on the final episode of the cracking TV thriller ‘Damages’ though. That’s not because I’m uninterested in it – in fact it’s been my favourite TV programme so far this year. Instead this is because I vowed to hold off on watching it until I can watch it with my fiancée.

 

The last episode left me pumped up about where this show is going. I can’t wait to see what happens next so no spoilers please!