When I was small, smaller than I am now, I learned a wise lesson from my Godmother, who, despite being very learned and cultured, loved nothing more than watching Blind Date on a Saturday night. At first I wondered why; eventually I realised she was interested in people for people's sake.

We should give Mary Portas and Channel 4 a cheer for keeping the high street in the headlines. We should be pleased that the medium of television gets the issue in front of many more people than the research papers of academics or the lobbying of politicians.

If two of a nation's biggest cultural icons are face-changing aliens it should be considered more than a coincidence. Born in the public imagination within six years of each other David Bowie and Doctor Who have taken strangely similar journeys.

Coronation Street actress Liz Dawn who became a household name as Vera Duckworth has suffered a heart attack, it has been reported. The 73-year-old...

The past year has been great for telly and as we're only two weeks away from the 2013 BAFTA Television Awards, I thought I'd give you a little lowdown of who I think deserves to walk away with an award in the Comedy and Entertainment categories... and maybe those who shouldn't too.

The Fast and the Furious had the opening credits on the show tonight. Wheel spins, clever moves, Ant & Dec screaming. What more could you ask for? Top Gear you are through! 

For those who watch simply for the audition rounds many do so from the expectation of acts to laugh at. Some may say these people are deluded to think they have talent but rather than celebrate the confidence and bravery it takes to stand up and perform whilst the country is watching we laugh in their faces.

I've spent the first part of the year digging away at his life to write the new biography Benedict Cumberbatch: Behind the Scenes. I found someone who's got a class-defying desire to succeed. A man whose job very nearly got himself killed in a South African car-jacking. And a man who's professional life hides a very real sadness at home.

If you thought TV talent contests had trouble with their judges in the UK, it's nothing compared to the diva-off that's rumoured to be going down Stat...

Imagine a world without TV. Instead of tuning in for the latest family drama on Emmerdale, we'd talk to our own families. Instead of watching yet another endless football match, we'd go to the gym or take the dog out for a walk. Instead of watching the Masterchef contenders taking insults from the judges, we'd cook a meal and talk to our friends or family while eating it together.

The problem with The Voice is that it's full of double standards and contradictions, shifting notably from what the shows principles were initially laid out to stand for.

Yes, I admit MC Boy was fun, but it's a no from me. But he still got through. Madness. Lets see what happens next. Oh joy.

Of all the things I can't get my head round in life, there is one thing that stands out above all else. It's not that vending machines kill more people annually than sharks, or even that they used to use dead beetles for Smarties colouring. It's that people genuinely feel like it's okay to bandy about the idea that women aren't funny.

Since December, something has not been right, something has been missing and the days and nights have felt so long...I wonder what's wrong??  

I've followed the Kardashians television shows and business ventures since the beginning of their rise to fame (not because of their celebrity status, as I have enough celebrity friends for that to just not wash with me); but because I see the entire family as a source of inspiration and excellent role models.

Sheriffs are back. It's official. The popularity of two current shows, Longmire and Vegas, prove that, if we ever tired of the authoritative figure with slow stride and wide hat, he's having a renaissance. But what does he represent in modern TV and film? One real-life Sheriff tells all.

Our education system needs to prepare young people leaving school, not just with a varied CV that might help them get a job working for someone else, but to recognise and realise that some young people leaving school could actually start their own business and be the entrepreneurs of the future.

England is a divided country, divided even in communities who have almost everything in common.