Kate Livingstone: Perfect weather to curl up beside TV

In fact, if truth be told, when the weather is as bad as it has been lately, I’m more than happy to curl up on the sofa any night of the week if there’s something worth watching- and just niow we’re certainly going through a golden period.

Any disappointment I was feeling at the end of the current run of Vera - I do love Brenda Blethyn in the role of the dowdy, dour-faced police officer with a sometimes well-hidden heart of gold – was quicly dispelled with I spotted that Shetland was making a return.

The last series had me on tenterhooks through as, in classic whodunnit fashion, the finger of suspicion was pointed at just about every character before the true culprit was eventually revealed and, although I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I do love little side stories that run through each episode. That’s my Tuesday nights sorted for the next few weeks.

I’m also a big fan of Silent Witness, even though it seems as if they are more police officers than pathologists these days, and Death in Paradise is another of my guilty pleasures.

I was brought up on Agatha Christie thrillers so any murder mystery which culminates the detective gather the main protagonists togther before unmasking the killer is always going to get my vote. It may be a bit old-fashioned these days but it’s so much more entertaining when a crime is solved by a sharp mind rather than a piece of DNA!

In amongst those gems, however, there are a few dramas which have had me reaching of my remote long before the credits have rolled.

I perservered with Hard Sun, finding it gripping enough if I ignored that central theme that the earth was about to be destroyed, but the ending left me cold, ironically enough given the fate that was about to be endured by the world’s population.

I also gave Requiem a go but barely lasted through the first episode, while McMafia has never floated my boat.

The sad thing is that this current spate of golden drama will soon come to an end and we’ll soon be left with another barren period.

Oh, I know I’ve got literally dozens of channels at my fingertips these days but all I’ve ever find are re-runs of American Pie - now that’s one film that’s most defnitely not my cup of tea.

Teenage boys high on testostorene were a pain when I was there age so I have no wish to watch their antics several decades on!