Good old Auntie

Just watched Horizon, The Secret Life of Cats, and am now struggling not to use the word meh for the first time in my online life. It's not that there was anything wrong with the programme as such, but didn't Horizon used to do proper documentaries? Germ warfare, Mars exploration, that sort of thing? I felt sorry for the narrator, trying to ramp up the tension over cat stand-offs and murdered voles.

Even the setting was cosy. Shamley Green, a pleasant village in leafy Surrey, where all the cat owners seemed to know and tolerate the foibles of each other's cats, and the village hall could be rebranded Cat HQ for a week without anyone much minding.

Or perhaps it's me. Perhaps there's a lot to be said for the visual equivalent of a big mug of Horlicks and comfy sofa. Certainly it's better than the reality show format, where programmes are edited to show as much conflict as possible, and some gits behind a desk say cruel and cutting things to some poor bumbling sod who stands before them, his hopes and dreams shattering in his hands.

Perhaps the other kind of thing; cats, baking, knitting, are what we really need to see us through these times of recession. Auntie only has our best interests at heart after all.