Up Your Game for 2012

Who would have thought that the gorgeous Gary Barlow would have X-Factor fans switching off in their droves? Or that the biggest hit on the box would be a programme which follows the residents of Essex as they decorate their bikini lines?

Less surprising were the Top Gear presenters landing themselves in yet more hot water by offending the entire nation of Mexico and Ant and Dec presenting a show which basically involved contestants choosing between red and black.

Possibly the only winner was rolling news, which really came into its own this year. Blanket coverage of the riots, the Royal Wedding and the Leveson Inquiry proved that sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

Audiences were glued to the trials of Michael Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray and the American student dubbed Foxy Knoxy.

The moment Rupert Murdoch came under custard pie attack on his own network was particularly memorable to me, sat watching it live in the dressing room of Les Dennis.

TV bosses will have to seriously up their game in 2012.

The Olympics and Euro 2012 will provide a welcome summer sporting line-up, but the rest of the schedule will have to impress during life after Spooks.

My tips are Nemesis, an original BBC suspense thriller set in the world of international espionage, Morse prequel Endeavour, lottery drama The Syndicate and Line of Duty, a cat and mouse thriller which probes modern day policing.

If none of them float your boat, there’s always the endless repeats of Come Dine With Me or the predictable Cheryl Cole comeback to look forward to I suppose.

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