We must all have books we like so much that we don't want other people to make films of them

Shortly before Rick Stein's first television series, I rang two weeks ahead to book a table for 14 at his Seafood Restaurant in Padstow. If I tried that now, I'd be laughed all the way to St Ives. Not even well- dressed crabs get into the Seafood Restaurant without reserving months in advance. Indeed, when I called in December last year to book a table for two for a midweek evening in August this year, I was told they hadn't anything before 9pm. At first I thought they were joking, and was faintly reminded of Fletcher in Porridge, who left his shoes to be repaired the day before he was nicked, and after years in prison went back for them. "They'll be ready Tuesday," he was told.

This week we're giving the prize to a new Radio 4 item, `I'm Sorry I Haven't a Desert Island'

I was not allowed to infer that Mandelson's situation is not a million miles from Oscar Wilde's

deborah ross talks to Tony Slattery

The Kingdom II

David Hare has miscast 'The Judas Kiss' and misjudged the passions of Oscar Wilde, writes Paul Taylor

Think of Rik Mayall and you see a grinning maniac spouting bad- taste jokes about bodily malfunctions in a succession of hectic TV sitcoms. Now he is starring in a slightly more grown-up role in the film `Bring me the Head of Mavis Davis'. But, he tells James Rampton, it is a part that still has him feeling like a misfit.

BOX CLEVER

He, famously, had nothing to declare except his genius. And, to judge by the new crop of plays and films, neither have we. But exactly which Oscar are we going Wilde about: the flamboyant bisexual or the subversive aesthete?

When he makes the effort, Stephen Fry the writer can produce something much finer than lavatory humour. Roger Clarke muses on a dandy's progress

There's nothing like an obituary for cutting a life down to size. When Brian Glover died last week, for example, at least one tabloid described him as "Tetley Tea star Brian Glover". "The 63-year-old actor had a string of top TV and movie credits", the report continued, "but was best known as the voice behind the hit TV ad". This combination of bathos and efficiency - "Oh yes. That one. The perforations man", you think at once - is an almost perfect instance of the "best known" construction, a bit of off- the-peg journalese without which many newspapers would be in considerable difficulties.

Robert Hanks the week on radio

Is prime-time popular psychology unhealthy voyeurism masquerading as entertainment - or genuine therapy for subjects and listeners alike? TV and radio shrinks may be in danger of jeopardising their own credibility.