Back in 1989 Channel 4 took many plaudits for a hard hitting, six hour serial about drugs trafficking. The series was called Traffik and won four BAFTA's.

A decade later and Hollywood has produced its own big bucks version (and got round to spelling Traffic correctly).

Like its television predecessor, the movie version of Traffic is already a big hit in America and recently won a clutchful of Golden Globes. Oscar nominations are just around the corner and in truth they'll be well deserved.

If anyone says I look like David Jason I'll sue

Like the TV series, Traffic the movie tells three separate stories which don't actually overlap but are linked by the drugs theme.

In one, Michael Douglas plays a US drugs czar who experiences the problem first hand when his daughter becomes addicted. Running alongside is the tale of a Mexican policeman desperate to defeat the local drugs cartels. And then there's Catherine Zeta Jones. She's under surveillance by two narcotics cops who are convinced she knows all about her husbands drug smuggling set-up.

Much of Traffic's pre-publicity has centred on the Douglas/Zeta Jones partnership even though the two don't actually meet on screen.

He is not old and I didn't just marry him to boost my career. Bet you're not going to the Oscars though

What's good about this film is it doesn't rely on shoot-out after shoot-out. Director Soderbergh made his name with Sex, Lies and Videotape, ironically in the same year the TV Traffik was released. More recently he's enjoyed success (and awards) with Erin Brockovitch.

He's not afraid to try different techniques, draw scenes out with dialogue, use Spanish dialogue in the story of the Mexican drugs officer.

Hats off to Zeta Jones It's a long way from the Darling Buds of May but she's stuck with it and with Zorro, Entrapment and now Traffic (plus a handy marriage) she needn't worry about Z list celebrity appearances on Blankety Blank for many years to come.