Once upon a time...

It was a case of Deek 'n' Brodie this week.



I loved everything about the Tall Ship Regional Quiz final,and wasn't it great to see the return of a happy, confident Deek after all his recent setbacks?



Now, before I go on, let me make it absolutely clear that I was 100% behind the Shieldinch quiz team for obvious reasons: its original line-up (before Murray gatecrashed) contained four of my favourite characters; the team hats were brilliant, and the rival Moss Green mob looked like a bunch of joyless pedants.



But - and I hate to say this - Moss Green would have been well within their rights to appeal on a couple of grounds. First, it is unacceptable that such a prestigious event should have been refereed by a man who is simultaneously the landlord of the home team's pub, uncle of the Shieldinch captain and on first name terms with the other three. We all know that Raymond is incorruptible but how would Moss Green know? Second point is this: much as the whole nation cheered when Robbie came to the rescue (and his senses) by replacing out-of-season Munro and Cougar-bagger Murray, it is technically against pub quiz rules to allow team substitutions.

Still, I'm glad Shieldinch got the better of Moss Green, if for no other reason than their rivals looked like the sort of people who prepared for the quiz by obsessively reading Encyclopaedia Britannica, whereas Robbie admitted that his team's training consisted of "watching a' the quiz programmes aff the telly." Crashing bore Murray would have been much more at home in the Moss Green team anyway.



Where did the Robbie & Deek Brokeback Mountain storyline come from? (apologies Deek for using the word' broke' in that sentence, given all your recent money troubles). Very touching though. Let's hope it continues, and if they ever share a bed I'm sure it'll be in the same way that Morecambe and Wise used to share theirs.



Last night I dreamed - no doubt a long way off in a faraway land - that breakfast time in the Brodie household passed off without major incident. Can my dream ever come true?



Finally, I'm no legal expert, but can a notorious mobster like McCabe be immediately freed from prison on the basis of a single uncorroborated statement from a pasty-faced, trouser-wetting, cry-baby jewel thief (sort of) like Fraser? Are Shieldinch's finest really that gullible? Anyway, who cares because it looks like the two old heavyweights Lenny and McCabe are stepping back in the ring for one last title fight! And as for Fraser: he's up to his neck now in stuff that smells nothing like the products of his ailing luxury soap business.



And as for Amber, I couldn't help but notice she was a bit anxious about her sales invoices this week and no wonder. As far as recent weeks go, recent sales consisted of Conor Brodie shoplifting a ring for Zinnie and Liz and Fraser nearly, but not quite, buying something yesterday.

i am going to have to stop watching if zinnie stays in the show for much longer. shes getting on my nerves. get rid of her and frazer and well have a great show again. bring back ambers wee boyfriend that lennie planked heroin on, he disappeared carted off to jail never to be seen again que pasa???

Have to agree with city fan Zinnie is probably the most annoying character on TV but the other newer characters on the cast are great. I really like the Brodies except Leo!