TELEVISION / Tabloid TV

Those tabloid TV 'scoops' in short: jailbirds supposedly rioted when prevented from seeing Catherine Zeta Jones in the Christmas edition of The Darling Buds of May; ITV spent pounds 29 million on Thames shows such as Minder, The Bill, Mr Bean, Count Duckula, in order to stop them going to the BBC; the BBC, however, won the Christmas ratings battle, not to mention the bulk of critical plaudits; reports abound that Jimmy Nail will be killed off at the end of the forthcoming new series of Spender; Coronation Street will kill off a major character in a car crash soon, leaving Vera Duckworth quite literally holding the baby; Only Fools and Horses is slated to return for a new run, despite previous reports of its demise; Robbie Coltrane became a father - Spencer (after Spencer Tracy) Coltrane weighted in at 8lb 4oz; and finally, David Coleman, Roy Castle, Kate Adie and Leslie Crowther all won awards in the New Year's Honours list, as did ITN reporter Paul Davies.

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