Ever since Russell revived Dr Who, there has been a hefty chunk of decent TV drama.

Tonight Lost In Austen reaches the conclusion - I shall be glued to it; it's been great.

Tess is terrific.

Merlin is brilliant too.

Place Of Execution is very gripping.

I could name a dozen recent really excellent TV dramas.

I don't know it is why but I'm delighted.

I must admit I haven't seen either of the four dramas you just listed. And you already know my views on RTD's treatment of Dr Who.

Have to agree with you on that, I missed Merlin last week and will catch up with it on the BBCI Player.

Dr Who is terrific. Other great dramas include New Tricks, Silent Witness, Waking the Dead and some of their more comedic dramas like Mutual Friends have been watchable.

Some of the factual documentaries like 'Who do you think you are' have been great, time now for ITV to raise the bar as well. Wire in the Blood is good, but can't think of any others.

As you'll see below, I actually think Lost In Austen was the best of the lot - on ITV.

And a great "Making of..." on ITV3 too.

Place of Execution Part Two - last night - extremely good on every level.

ITV drama, like BBC drama, has really picked up recently.

Should we credit Peter Fincham for this?

I can't agree!

I loathe and abhor what Russell T.Davies did to Doctor Who - I think his ego gets in the way far too much for comfort in anything he does - and I feel in it's wake, we've had a stream of dross.

I cannot take Merlin remotely seriously and the other shows listed here leave me cold. As for comedy, the Noughties has been the worst decade ever... not a single comedy series has made me laugh in the last 8 years and I'm beginning to wonder if I've still got a sense of humour since I do not find Ricky Gervais, Boosh, Catherine Tate, Peter Kay, Kumars etc etc remotely funny. And if Little Britain is the best we can offer, then heaven help us.

So in my view, TV is worse than ever. Far too much spam as well... is it REALLY necessary to have that Strictly Come Dancing tosh inflicted upon us 7 days a week? Talk about a load of hype and fuss over absolutely nothing... I detect a case of the "Geldof Principle" going on there. And don't get me started on The X Factor, Eggheads, Big Brother, ANY show with "celebrity" in its title and those pathetic "reality" shows with non stars like Jordan and Kerry Katona.

I will admit that "Who Do You Think You Are?" is interesting... depending on who it is... Rantzen being a major turn off!

Isn't the great thing about all art that different things appeal to different tastes?

I'm interested to know whether most people agree with me or Elliott.

I'm with you on a lot of comedy, much of which fails to amuse, but even there I've giggled at Tate especially and much of Little Britain.

Further contributions please.

You may have had a humour bypass Elliot as the comedy names mentioned are excellent in my opinion. Russell Brand tops them all! Love his use of the English language. Nothing wrong with a bit of "Strictly" on a Saturday night. Nice with a bottle of wine..it keeps the missus quiet!

Interesting you mention Russell, Angel, I'm a fan too, for exactly the reason you give.

Angel wrote:
Nothing wrong with a bit of "Strictly" on a Saturday night. Nice with a bottle of wine..it keeps the missus quiet!

Agreed, but is the Sunday night show necessary and the weekday shows? That is total overkill in my view. Surely the Saturday night show is enough!

As for the humour thing, it's a source of bafflement to me because I love more or less all the classic comedies (Fawlty, One Foot, Father Ted, Dads Army, Python, Goodies, Up Pompeii etc) but try as I might to watch and enjoy them, nearly all the newer stuff leaves me cold. I must be in a minority in finding The Simpsons totally unfunny! My friends howl at it but I sit there wondering what's supposed to be funny! I can't profess an opinion on Russell Brand since I haven't seen enough of his work to be able to make a judgement on him... I'll be honest and fair about that.

I admit I do tend to mostly watch TV shows made before the 90s of all kinds. The debate here brings to mind what I loathe about todays TV... constant quick cutting, spinning cameras and all that. OK, maybe I'm old fashioned and out of date, but older TV took its time. Scenes were longer... maybe more ponderous and you didn't have cameras spinning all over or the constant quick cutting. A lot of it was down to intelligent scriptwriting. Another annoyance I have with modern day Doctor Who is the constant use of music throughout. I just feel it has no space in which to breathe. I just feel that much modern day TV is like being bombarded... I like a bit of breathing space to be able to take it all in.

I'm sure many youngsters of today would look at TV from the 60s, 70s and 80s and find it quite longwinded and boring compared to how TV is made today. Just the way I'm built I guess!

I hope that clarifies my views a bit!

I'm just a fussy fuddy duddy sod!

Did you catch the "On the road" show last night on BBC2?
An utterly charming man. Love to go out for a mineral water with him!

I agree Elliot, that one night is enough on Saturday (Strictly). I hate to say it but i think Brucie's kind of lost it with me. Used to love him. This series he doesn't seem so sharp with the autocue or gags (bless). I'd like to see Norton take the helm next series. I too love all the old classics that you list. Don't put yourself down. I hate the Simpsons too and my mates think i'm a weirdo for it!