Every cloud has a silver lining.

Readers of 'Belle de Jour' often thought I was cold I think part of that is a scientific detachment that came through in my writing, which was influenced by my scientific education. When I was anonymous [writing her "Diary of a London Call Girl" blog] people identified this trait and made the accusation that I must be a man. But I also heard from lots of sex workers who said, "This is true to my experience."

Rant

A critical view

The beat of the Irish diaspora, via King's Cross

The soap world's "Oscars" take place tonight, as Coronation Street, EastEnders, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and Doctors battle it out for gongs.

What do the 2012 Olympics and mayoral elections have in common? Here's a clue: it's not London. Other places are voting on mayors, too. The answer is that they are being vilified in a nasty, negative and condescending way by the metropolitan chatterers, who regard both as impediments to the smooth functioning of their gilded lives and just the latest examples of the "dumbing-down" of modern life.

A TV drama about serial killer Fred West headed the shortlist for the TV Baftas today with nominations for four awards.

Give us a villainous vampire we can get our teeth into, not one of these winsome wimps

Adam Brody has come a long way since The OC – but his appeal with the ladies shows no sign of waning, says Kaleem Aftab

Sir David Attenborough is to take on Keith Lemon and Sherlock for a TV Bafta.

We've had a lot of ersatz maritime disaster over the last few days, what with the Titanic centenary, but The Sinking of the Concordia: Caught on Camera could proudly boast that it was the real thing. "No director, no camera crew, no reconstructions," promised the voiceover at the beginning of this collage of home videos of the event. It relied for its raw material on two features of modern life: the ubiquity of hand-held video cameras in the age of smart-phones and the readiness of some people to experience their entire holiday from behind a view-finder. As this film proved, some of them won't even press the pause button when their own children are weeping with fear in front of the lens.

Former Doctor Who star David Tennant will play a French spy in a new two-part Second World War-era drama by Likely Lads writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.