... What the Dickens, it's Charlie once again By HARRY VENNING Penguin Classics are not inexhaustible and if the BBC doesn't stop adapting them for its Sunday night schedule there soon will not be any works of pre-1970 literature left to film. This situation is made even more critical with ITV entering the fray. Hefty tomes given the small screen treatment in 1999 included, Great Expectations ...

... Vic's posh chat rules OK BY HARRY VENNING I came to mock and stayed to cheer. Top programme of the week was undoubtedly Victoria's Secrets (C4, Tuesday. January 11, 10pm), a one-off special which saw Posh Spice attempting a bit of work experience as a celebrity interviewer. I am not quite sure what Victoria Adams' day job is any more, but she should most definitely not give it up. As an ...

... RATINGS WATCH BY BEN DOWELL FOR WEEK ENDING JANUARY 9 By the time this particular platter was offered to viewers, things had settled down in tellyland. The mistletoe was down, media editors had drained their millionth glass of free plonk at the 94th party and weary executives were forced to heave their 4x4 guts behind their desks. AH we have now is Gormenghastly, and the question is: Why ...

... Compelling portrayal of a personal crusade By Harry Venning This is Personal - The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (ITV, Wednesday. January 26, 9pm) was a two-part dramatisation of the police manhunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. Despite an abundance of evidence, leads and eyewitness descriptions, the investigation dragged on for years without an arrest being made and the killer continued to attack ...

... Colourful characters keep the fun moving This week we focus on the small-screen world of children's programmes BY KAT WOOOTTON While my cronies and I have reached the age at which we get nostalgic about children's television in the seventies, my kids are currently having their future TV reminiscences imprinted upon them. In 20 years time, they will get all misty-eyed at the mention of ...

... Punchy portrayal of security's brawl game By HARRY VENNING There are few sights more thrilling than a punch-up watched from a safe distance, and it is surely the expectation of some serious fisticuffs that makes Muscle (BBC1, Saturday, February 5, 10pm) so alluring. Bristokiased Security Leisure supplies bouncers to pubs and clubs in the wild south west, and the programme follows the nocturnal ...

... These uprooted vegs lacked comedic bite By HARRY VENNING All credit to Sky TV, when I it decides to do something it doesn't do it by halves. Its first foray into sitcom production boasts big names (Jack Docherty and Mark Williams as stars, Rob Grant as writer), big budget, big advertising campaign and big special effects. Even the first episode was big, at just under an hour long. All that ...

... RATINGS WATCH FOR WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 20 Have you ever noticed how television can't get by without repeating itself? Have you ever noticed how television can't get by without repeating itself? Now if this column were being written for TV, the paragraph above would be regarded as a triumph for commercial good sense: there's twice the words for half the thought, it fills up all that nasty white ...

... This film noir thriller makes arresting viewing By HARRY VENNING I had absolutely no problem with Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect. Likewise Anna Carteret in Juliet Bravo and Jill Gascoigne in The Gentle Touch. But I am afraid credibility was stretched beyond breaking point by the casting of Emma Cunniffe as a detective constable in Blue Murder (ITV, Wednesday. February 23, 9pm). She has got ...

... Scottish saga short of any real surprises By Tara Conlan According to a survey published this week, the words: According to a survey published this week' are more than 90 per cent likely to be used to begin the average lazy newspaper journalist's column. I do not usually like to scrape the proverbial barrel and rely on surveys to kick off my pink (purple is so last season) prose. But this ...

... RATINGS WATCH By Ben Dowell For week ending February 27 What a funny old world. First there's Carlton Television showcasing John Thaw in Monsignor Renard, probably his best potential vehicle since Morse. And before ITV can say more please, it says no thanks. Not making enough money, apparently. Most of the production team were talking about the decision with such gritted teeth at last ...

... Brits take prize for total self-absorption By Ben Dowell Everyone who's anyone is here tonight, bellowed Davina McCall, hostess of The Brit Awards 2000 (ITV, Saturday, March 4, 8.55pm). She may as well have added: And that ain't you, pal--you're at home watching it on telly If only the next shot had not been of Dale Winton, we may have believed her. If only she had not said in the next ...