TELEVISION / Tabloid TV

Tabloid gem of last week was the Daily Mirror's story about former Eldorado star Jon Morrey. Morrey, who used to play Allan Hindle, was forced to explain to poll tax officials why he was out of the country and hadn't paid his tax. He came up with the ruse that he was a celebrity; the officials were unanimous in their reaction - they had never heard of him.

Michael Barrymore hit the headlines, at first for talking about his violent father, whom he hasn't seen for 30 years, and then for commotion-causing at 4am in a hotel in Manchester. Elsewhere, Antonia de Sancha was the victim of union action - she lost her first TV role because her co-actresses refused to work with her; Phillip Schofield was voted Variety Club Personality of the Year; and GMTV shook up its presentation team after just over a month on air, substituting Eamonn Holmes in Michael Wilson's daily place on the sofa next to Fiona Armstrong.

Richard Wilson, who plays Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave, revealed some crucial insights into his life: that he does 15 press-ups a day; that balding heads are sexy; and that he loves a good jive at a nightclub.

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