WHO is watching you?
That’s one of the questions posed in new BBC1 thriller The Last Enemy, which began last night.
The series is set in a near future when virtually our every move, and possibly keystroke, can be monitored.
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as brilliant mathematician Stephen Ezard alongside Anamaria Marinca as the mysterious Yasim Anwar.
I met up with them recently – you can read Friday’s MEN TV feature here.
Anamaria became the first Romanian actress to win a BAFTA for her role as Elena in Channel 4’s Sex Traffic.
She is also the star of film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which won the Palme d’Or earlier this year.
While we debate ID cards, CCTV, hi-tech surveillance and other issues, Anamaria’s parents experienced an earlier version of Big Brother.

THE news that Raquel Welch is starring in an American sitcom brought back a few memories.
Scan the web today and you’ll find plenty of stories about how, at 67, she is still one of Hollywood’s sexiest women.
Back in the day, Raquel was voted the most desired woman of the 1970s, having also been a sex symbol of the 1960s.
So imagine how I felt in October 1984 when, still a young reporter, I was sent to interview her.
Having done my research, I turned up one Sunday morning at The Savoy Hotel in London as church bells rang nearby.
Having seen Raquel on the big screen in films like One Million Years BC, I was surprised to see how relatively petite she was – just 5’ 6”.
And I was also taken with how relaxed she was in the interview – with just the pair of us and her, then, husband in the room.
Part of the interview appears to have become mangled in our digital library, but I thought you might like to read the extract below.
There are also links at the bottom of this blog to Raquel and her role in CBS comedy Welcome To The Captain.

SHE grew used to dealing with the wild animals of Walford.
Now former EastEnder Jessie Wallace has swapped the hardmen of Albert Square for a spot of real animal magic.
The actress, still known to millions as Kat Slater, joins the regular cast of Wild At Heart this weekend as Essex girl Amy Kriel.
But Jessie, 36, has another ambition, as yet unfulfilled.
There wasn’t room to include it in today’s MEN TV feature – the online version is here.
So here it is:
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play Nancy in Oliver,” she says.
“I’d love to do that. I think I’m getting a bit old now, actually,”
Having already played music hall queen Marie Lloyd, you might think Jessie would make a great Nancy.
Especially as a new stage revival of Oliver is being produced in London’s West End later this year.

SHAMELESS star Jody Latham is hoping to return to the Chatsworth estate this year.
Lip Gallagher went back to university after a spot of women trouble in the first episode of the current Channel 4 series.
Salford-based Jody was written out to enable him to work on two new projects.
One is a new ITV1 drama series, and Kudos production, called The Fixer, due on screen next month.
The other is a feature film – with Jody as associate producer – called Act of Grace.
You can read all about them in last Friday’s MEN feature interview with Jody here.
Having asked him about a possible return to Shameless, it was interesting to hear Jody talk about previous cast members who had “disconnected” themselves from the series.
Not something he plans to do.

IT was standing room only at today’s press launch for new ITV1 drama Rock Rivals.
Former Coronation Street actor Sean Gallagher and ex-EastEnder Michelle Collins play the two lead roles.
That’s husband and wife Mal and Karina Faith, judges on music talent show Rock Rivals.
If images of The X Factor pop into your head, it’s hardly surprising.
Simon Cowell was the script consultant in an eight-part series inspired by the real thing.
It’s made by Shed Productions, the people who gave us Bad Girls and Footballers’ Wives.
Several hacks, me included, turned up at the London venue this morning fearing the worst.
But I have to say that although Rock Rivals is totally daft – it’s also very entertaining.

THERE’S no doubt that Stephen Tompkinson has an affinity with animals.
Talk to anyone linked to Wild At Heart and they’ll tell you how good he is with all creatures great and small out in the African bush.
Even when he’s back home in Britain, he rings up to check how those in a local animal sanctuary are getting on.
It can probably be traced back to his childhood, when the Tompkinson family had a pet beagle dog and a rabbit.
“We also had a tortoise that managed to escape from the garden, somehow,” he told us recently.
“It was all over in a flash – moved too quickly for us,” he laughed.
“My dad said I’ve never had any fear of animals and would always go up to strange dogs and manage to avoid being bitten.
“This is just on a much bigger scale.”

THE factory gates are open again at Mackintosh Textiles.
Made redundant in 2003 after four BBC1 series, Clocking Off begins a very welcome repeat run on ITV3 at 9pm tonight.
Created by Paul Abbott, the BAFTA-award winning drama set against the backdrop of a Manchester textile factory is not to be missed.
Although some didn’t realise it at first, Paul and the Red Production Company sold the BBC a series of modern Play For Todays.
The stories were surprising and featured the cream of Britain’s acting talent.
Many were to go on to even greater heights, including Ashley Jensen of Extras and Ugly Betty fame.
From the very start in late 1999, I interviewed the stars of Clocking Off and continued to do so year after year until the series was axed.
That included Philip Glenister, who played factory boss Mack, and John Simm, who features – along with the MEN – in tonight’s very first episode.
John plays lorry driver Stuart who returns home after being missing for 13 months and appears to have lost all memory of the intervening period.

THE search is on for a new Miss Marple.
Just in from ITV is the announcement that Geraldine McEwan is to hang up her knitting needles and retire from the role of the spinster sleuth.
“Of course, it is terribly disappointing to have to pass the baton on,” said Geraldine.
“But it has been a marvellous experience to inhabit this role for the last few years, and I am sure that my successor, whomever she may be, will throroughly enjoy her time with the production team.
“And with the extraordinarily talented group of writers and actors that they come up with for each series.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure to work on Miss Marple since 2003, and I leave with fond memories.”
I interviewed Geraldine before that very first revamped Marple series and have spoken to her several times since.

DO women feel more guilt about affairs than men?
That was the question posed to actress Sharon Small at the launch of TV drama Mistresses.
“I think it’s, perhaps, generally a bigger step for a woman to be unfaithful than a man,” she replied.
“I’m not sure, because I’m not a bloke, but I think it’s less engaged in the heart for men.”
Sharon plays 9/11 widow Trudi in the BBC1 drama, which continues at 9pm tonight after last week’s first date with single dad Richard (Patrick Baladi).
There’s a feature interview with Sharon in today’s MEN – the online version is here.
As you can see from the photo above, her latest character has a very different look to washed out Det Sgt Barbara Haves in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.

YOU can usually spot the writer at TV launches.
They’re the one sat at the back being mostly ignored while the stars of the show grab the headlines.
And yet there’s one thing all actors agree on – the script is the most important part of the entire project.
You can have the best production, direction, acting and theme tune in the world.
But without a good script, you’re lost.
The critics, predictably, didn’t much like Wild At Heart when it made its ITV1 debut.
That’s because it’s aimed at real viewers who want to relax with a spot of escapist family drama on a Sunday night.