The Horseman

Enter scene. Two or more characters talk for a while. They say things which aren't funny. Background laughter. All present pause while the background laughter is on. Resume talking. Somebody will use a joke that was once funny in 1953. Background laughter again. Resume talking. Some physical bit of comedy will be used. Nobody will laugh at home. The audience will split their sides. Like before, everyone will pause for a nanosecond while the background laughter plays

Enter scene......

This is one of those shows which is only for the sort of person who takes great joy in watching a show where you can set your watch by the plot. If you loved Quincy, and went mad with joy when they repeated Dallas and the A-Team, then this is for you. Otherwise, it might be good for you to avoid this at all costs

Dick 'Yes, I can do a Cockney accent' Van Dyke plays a doctor (it's never actually made clear, at least in the episodes that I've watched, what he does whens he's a doctor). He seems to have been given his entire career off by a very caring boss who understands that its difficult to be a doctor and have a crime-fighting hobby at the same time.

Dick Van Dyke's moustache seems to play a separate character

The rest of the cast is basically constructed so that Dick can go about his caring-yet-stern crimefighting ways without it being too unbelievable. Mind you, with his 'son' in the program being the head of the LA homicide squad and his best friend being the county coroner, they really didn't put much effort into it

Like I said, if you like cheesy, over/underacted programs without much plotline, then this will be for you. Think of it as 'son of Quincy' and you'll have a pretty good idea

There's even an episode with Quincy in it, or so I'm told.......

Spooks, is quite frankly, bloody excellent. It seems to have learnt all the tricks that the best of American thrillers (e.g. '24') have picked up, and uses them to the best of their abilities. The acting, especially from McFadden, is likewise excellent (unlike many other similar programs, Spooks doesn't attempt to make the characters whiter-than-white. They're likeable, just not perfect). It also has the bravery to use storylines that are shocking, but are what make it the best.

My only criticism is that the characters from 'the government' are a bit too stereotypically slimey.

Otherwise 10 out of 10

Mondays, 9:00pm, BBC 1