The winner is...

So, 12 hugely entertaining if frustrating weeks (from the perspective of the brainless editing which treated the audience like retarded Albanian sprout pickers) and we finally have a winner.

Some truly disgusting antics (Jenny), backstabbing (Alex), outright lying (Michael, pretty much everyone) and many hilarious moments and we learned who was to be Sirallan's apprentice.

4 made it to the final, then 2, and I feared the moment that Claire would be handed the role for her so-called 'transformation'. But you'd need a very large transformation to come back from stabbing a good man in the back.

And after it all, when all the shenanigans are over...

the best human being won.

Cancelling Sky

I like TV. I love live sport, I love Seinfeld, I love The Office, Peep Show, and crap like Californication. I love reality TV. I love the occasional documentary. I like watching Girls Aloud on MTV. There, I've said it.

But TV is not compatible with my new life. I can't afford the time and, given I'm now pressing ahead with a new business, I can't afford the Sky subscription either. So for the first time in 18 years, I've cancelled it.

Instead my new life involves more of these:






I read 3 books over the bank holiday, for pleasure. Books are good aren't they?

The Apprentice...and legacy

Watched The Apprentice tonight - utterly addictive as usual. This episode was remarkable for the fact that a truly impressive man got fired, Simon Smith. Yes, he was brash at the beginning and yes he lost control. But this was a man who can be proud of his legacy on the programme. Here was a man who knew his strengths and limitations and played to them. He was honest. He tried to win. And virtually no one else can say the same.













Seriously, don't people care about their own integrity?

Nearly everyone else who spoke on the show lied openly. Nearly everyone who spoke played politics and spent most of the time maneouvering for position in the hope that if their team lost, they could shift the blame.

Do people care only about winning at all costs?

Tom Peters talks about the idea of legacy. Not for a life, a career or even 15 minutes of fame on a reality TV show. He talks about the legacy of today.

So what will today's legacy be for you?

Chris Langham

This evening I watched Shrink Rap, where Dr Pamela Stephenson - comedienne turned psychologist - interviewed Chris Langham, the actor who starred in the brilliant Thick of It.

Chris Langham was being interviewed because he had recently been convicted of downloading child porn to his computer and viewing it. He had served a prison term after pleading not guilty to all charges after claiming that he downloaded the images for 'research'. He also claimed that he had been abused as a child.

When the case was going on, I remember taking a hard line on the story, which is unlike me. Langham must have known what he was doing, and as a former vicitm of abuse he must have known the damage downloading such images perpetuates. He deserved everything he got, and more.

Having watched the programme, I now feel differently. I feel desperately sorry for him, and ashamed at my willingness to see things in black and white. Life is so often shades of grey.

I am at a loss to know what conclusion to draw, so let me draw several.

1. The media did not portray all the nuances of this story, which worries me.

2. Television is not a stupid medium.

3. People and life are complex; sometimes seeminly inexplicable actions happen. Where this is illegal, the perpetrator must be punished but sympathy can also be extended simultaneously.

4. Those who recognise these nuances and stand by people irrespective of their wrongdoing are brave.

5. As with the Mark of Cain, and the McCanns, I cannot help but think there but for the grace of God go I.

I am not arguing that he should not have been punished. But then neither is he. I am arguing news stories often get written as much for their saleability as their integrity. I am arguing that we instinctively make shortcuts to certainty.

I am arguing that we must collectively and individually guard against sanctimony, in a nuanced and complex world.

Ross Kemp on gangs

The absurd Ross Kemp is on TV doing a series about the world's toughest gangs. On the trailer (no, I don't watch it) he is shown driving through a supposedly dangerous street in Jamaica saying:

"Everyone we see is giving us the eye, so it's literally like a war zone."

Erm, Ross, but are you sure that a war zone is characterised by a load of people 'giving you the eye'?

Now I see! The horrors of war are newly apparent, thanks to Ross's insights. I can imagine Ross, wide-eyed with terror, interviewing soldiers about being surrounded by Iraqi insurgents who are ALL prepared to "give them the evils".

"We've just been in a bar, and the barman didn't even smile at us, even when we left a tip", says a shocked Ross.

It's only by the bravery of Ros Kemp that we can truly understand what it is like to be in a war zone.

Supernanny

Look, I hate to say this but this is compelling TV. Just shows you how much children need clear boundaries - like training a dog essentially.

I may as well admit to you now that I have reluctantly had to add Supernanny to the list of women I really shouldn't fancy, but do.

It's the large breasts and stern demeanour.








OK, show me to the naughty step.

Farewell to Big Brother

I know my addiction to yet another reality programme will come as no surprise to any of you, my Zookeepers, but this one has been brilliant.

And I'm not talking about the 'highlights' such as the astonishingly damaged Charlie or Ziggy and Chanelle's weird romance.

Since then, nothing really has happened - and this has been the secret of its brilliance. All we've been left with is a genuinely good set of people, interacting in all their glorious human frailty. Essentially, they have all rubbed along, made mistakes, had fun....and nothing has happened.

We even have semi-heroic characters such as Liam, a man oozing rugged decency, the angelic Twins, and Brian, a hero who'll never understand why, who must win.

These are decent and loyal people.

We've read a lot about our broken society and the teenagers who are breaking it. Without belittling any of that, I still feel that whilst Britain is churning out young people like this, all is not lost.