Even though ITV has been constantly kicked around for being the dumbest channel ever to air, you’ve got to admire the cheek of Melvyn Bragg for consistently playing by his own rules. His switches from bubblegum pop-culture to an in depth look at some obscure Hungarian animator who fuses concentration camp memoirs with modern dance, through the medium of chalk sketches… or something. Well, it’s with the former we find Uncle ITV, as he focuses on (James) Bond: The South Bank Show (ITV1, Wednesday, 22 October, 10.40pm), just in time for everyone to go ga-ga over the new film.

Of course, there are still some who grumble at a James Bond who doesn’t have jet-black hair, but Daniel Craig did no harm to the Bond franchise when he rose from the sea in Casino Royale in a his little blue swimming trunks did he? Naturally, this has left a lot of people saying he’s ‘the second best Bond ever’ because, as usual, the current one deserves praise, but can never budge Sean Connery from the list (or Rog’ if you’re a Moore kinda person).

So with that, Bragg goes into the interview process all cheery as Craig chuckles his way through the kerfuffle of his Ursula Andress moment… “I had no idea I’d be haunted by it for the rest of my life.”

However, the real excitement lies in new clips of the latest Bond flick, Quantum of Solace. Craig will also be appearing on the Jonathan Ross show on Friday night too (but I won’t see it as I’ll be in Belfast watching Gilbert O’Sullivan… when will he get a Bond theme eh?)