Oooh, you just know summer’s nearly here when the French Open’s underway in Paris (go Murray), and Springwatch dominates the BBC Two schedules. But what’s this? Where’s the Goodie making inappropriately explicit remarks about the mating rituals of the dung beetle or mallard? Off having a rest, that’s where, and we’re left in the hands of regulars Kate Humble and Simon King, along with newbie (to this show at least) Mr. Chris Packham. So two episodes into Springwatch 2009, how is he getting on?

Related: Holy Chaffinch – Oddie quits Springwatch | Springwatch Watch 2008 – Could Oddie keep it clean?

Well, really rather well – but then, Packham has been presenting nature shows for years and years of course; he was the funky one on The Really Wild Show back in the late 80s. So he’s terribly knowledgeable (lots of ‘reallys!’ from Kate, though I have a feeling she plays dumb at times) and, while he can come across as a little smug at times, I think that that’s only because he’s super-confident, and when you’re broadcasting live for three weeks and reacting to changing situations, that’s no bad thing.

Kate, it has to be said, seems rather more relaxed, though I never really saw the hatred that apparently existed between her and Bill Oddie. There’s lots of giggling going on thanks to the fact that Chris can be really rather quick at times, and it’s more of an equal partnership, I think. All in all, then, a rather successful replacement.

Elsewhere, Simon King is being as enthusiastic and brilliant as ever with his classic fingerless gloves and woolly hat look. He’s looking for polecats in Wales at the moment (so far he’s caught just a few frames of footage) and whipping out ‘doodles’ that would grace the walls of any art gallery.

There’s a new guy too, called Martin Hughes-Games who looks *precisely* like a cross between James May and Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen. You’d think such a thing would not be possible, so dissimilar are they, but it’s quite true. Overall, it’s still a lot of fun, and most nights you see something utterly ahhhhh-enducing. The perfect way to unwind.