James May (21st Dec 2009)

Almost a repeat I know, and a ridiculous one at that, I can't stand the bloke. Still, he did rather dominate TV last night.

1. His Toys series was terrific. A full-size lego house made from 3 million bricks was ample follow-up to his meccano and scalextric masterpieces. Anne tells me it's been dismantled due to some bureaucratic nonsense and I was left wondering how much it would be worth if Damien Hirst or Rachel Whiteread had made it.

2. Then he got back to his usual job, being the bullied one on Top Gear. I'm a big fan of Top Gear, and I say this as a non-driver, but my prediction is it'll become outdated pretty quickly under a Conservative government - there'll be enough Tory fuckwits running around making twats of themselves to make us look at these three in a less indulgent light.

3. Best of all he massively improved a programme last night by his absence. Oz Clarke's drinking-himself-to-death-roadshow was much more entertaining with the ever-amenable Hugh Dennis than it would have been with the usual Captain Slow grumping about the place.

Finally, I can pass on a top tip to all those who missed the show - your Christmas morning Buck's Fizz (good orange juice, cheap bubbly) will be doubly scrumptious if you add a shot of Cointreau, with the added bonus that you'll be comatose by midday.

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