What is going on? Normally only happy getting chocolate manufacturers to throw buckets of money at Simon Cowell, ITV has suddenly seemed to have re-discovered its soul.
Before they filled up their schedules with wall-to-wall celebrity/reality programming, the thing the Channel was best known for was its drama output. They were churning out populist Period adaptations like Brideshead Revisited, Emma and a cracking version of Rebecca (starring Diana Rigg) well before the BBC decided to 'do' Pride & Prejudice.
It almost makes you weep that the people who brought us the likes of Inspector Morse, Sharpe, Hornblower, Poirot, The Jewel in the Crown, Sherlock Holmes and Jane Tennison swapped it all to bring us more Ant & Dec. Like we need more...
However the Autumn schedules seem to suggest the broadcaster has refound its touch. Tonight Barbed Wire Bouquet starts, and I'm already insanely excited by Julian Fellowes' Downton Abbey and John Nettles' last outings in Midsomer Murders - Oh come on, it's genius!
Kicking it all off was last night's totally absorbing U B Dead.
Based on one of the worst cases of stalking the Met have ever dealt with, it pitched David Morrissey's put-upon-but curiously-not-very sympathetic Dr Jan Falkowski against Monica Dolan's stalking bunny boiler, Maria Marchese.
Whilst Morrissey was back to his Bradly Headstone tortured brooding best, Dolan stole the show with a performance equally frighteningly good and frighteningly mad. Even though you knew she was guilty with an hour to go, the remaining time flew by. Throw in a side order of Tara Fitzgerald (where has she been?), and Robin Hood's Lucy Griffiths flouncing around the place, and you've got just about the perfect high end drama for a Sunday night.
Is this what we want? It's what I want, more brilliant drama and less cheap reality shows, and if we could have more Barnaby and Sharpe I'll die a happy man. It's something born out by our recent survey with Radio Times, but do you agree, or am I just being needlessly mean and snooty about Ant and/or Dec? Let us know below...