Wasp's going on?

12:13pm Thursday 22nd May 2008

OF all the theories put forward to explain the disappearance of Agatha Christie for 10 days in the 1920s, no-one has ever brought a giant alien wasp into the equation. Until last Saturday's episode of Doctor Who (BBC1), that is!

The storyline had the iconic crime writer becoming involved in one of the most bizarre plot lines yet, with a vicar turning into a huge wasp - or Vespiform - and Felicity Kendall admitting that she had fallen in love with an alien insect years before.

Unfortunately, the wasp in question wasn't exactly frightening, and I'm surprised no-one just went down the route of finding an insect spray and zapping the poor excuse for a monster.

Talking of aliens, I managed to catch the first part of the documentary in which the Duchess of York travelled from her home in New York to try to persuade a family from Hull to follow a healthier lifestyle (ITV1, Monday and Tuesday).

Fergie seemed like a visitor from Mars, as she was booked into a B and B near to the family's council estate home. Despite her jolly attempts to relate to the Sargesons, you could tell she thought she was on another planet.

And you could not imagine a bigger challenge than this family, who bemoaned the small amount they have to spend on food, while puffing away on cigarettes (including 13-year-old Marc!).

I couldn't bring myself to watch the second part of this programme, with its undertones of 'let's send in an upper class missionary to help the poor lower class folk who don't know any better'. But I'd be very surprised if the Sargesons suddenly became vegetarian fitness fanatics!