Hide behind the sofa

Telly in Australia is absolutely bobbins.

When there is something good on (usually an import from England - Gordon Ramsey, Ladette to Lady) any modicum of drama or suspense the program makers have managed to build is completely dissipated by the 72 adverts, which are inserted liberally throughout the program at precisely the wrong times. Adelaide, it would seem, always has a rug shop which is closing down and has 15% off everything this weekend only, every weekend. They continue here to use the bloke who owns the shop to advertise it, some of them even sing. At least they have some comedy value. We have had to train Robert and Owen to mute the TV during ad breaks. That's because they'll show a rather graphic trailer for Big Brother or CSI in the middle of a morning showing of Pokemon.

So hats off to Keith Chalk, who has rescued us with regular parcels of DVD recordings of Dr Who and Heroes. We've been very self disciplined and watched one Dr Who a week on a Friday or Saturday night. All 4 of us sit on our settee with the lights off, making a big event of the latest screening. It seems to have paid off. Robert and Owen both hold a cushion to hide behind when they watch it. As we started the latest episode, Robert said that he gets butterflies in his stomach when the theme tune comes on. We've just watched the ones with Alex Kingston, and our theory is she'll turn out to be Donna's daughter. Or something.

Now we can look forward to Channel 7's exclusive HD olympics coverage. With hundreds of bloomin adverts.