IT was a close thing deciding what to watch in the post-Heartbeat slot on Sunday evening. On BBC1 there was a new drama scripted by the superb Paul Abbott and starring the excellent John Simm and David Morrissey. On ITV1 there was Caroline Quentin!

Try as I might, I just can't understand why Ms Quentin is regarded so highly as an actress. As far as I can see, she plays the same part every time - herself. Blue Murder? She gets away with it in every role she purports to play.

Simm and Morrissey, on the other hand, are consummate actors with the ability to convince the viewer that they are living the life they are portraying.

On the evidence of the first episode, State of Play looks like essential viewing for the next few weeks. The tale of journalist Cal McCaffrey (Simm) and MP Stephen Collins (Morrissey), entwined in a good old-fashioned political thriller, has been written with pace, wit and intelligence.

At last Sunday night on the box has a double bill to savour, with the iconic 24 (BBC2) following hot on the heels of this new drama.

From the sublime to the ridiculous - the week started with the crowning of Tuffers as the new Tarzan in I'm A Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here! As he himself admitted, he looked more like a tramp than King of the Jungle by the end of the adventure.

Considering the fact that the laid-back cricketer had been the favourite from day one, it was probably the biggest waste of time in television history. The only things we learned were that Planet Fashanu is a very strange place; Linda Barker is a bit too competitive for comfort; Wayne Sleep has a friend who could have stepped straight out of Casablanca, and Toyah Wilcox has mellowed to the point of slushdom!

The biggest disappointment of last week, however, was The Day Britain Stopped (BBC2, Tuesday), which could have been more accurately called The Day The South East Hogged The Headlines Again.

Following in the footsteps of the docu-drama on a fictitious smallpox outbreak in the UK, this cautionary tale tackled the spectre of gridlock around the M25 on the day of a rail strike just before Christmas this year.

A couple of road accidents and a flawed air traffic control procedure resulted in two planes colliding over Hounslow and people dying in stationary jams on the motorway network.

The scenario was thought-provoking enough, but the perception that Londoners believe nothing happens worth reporting north of Watford was hardly challenged here! A brief nod in the direction of an international football match at Old Trafford being cancelled because of the chaos was the only acknowledgement of the rest of the 'Britain' that had supposedly stopped.

Far more scary in its own way was Tabloid Tales (BBC1) the same evening. Just when the memory of Big Brother floozie Jade Goody was beginning to recede, here she was chatting to Piers Morgan about her rise to celebrity status. If ever there was an argument for banning reality TV immediately, this was it.

Soap Poser:

THE National Soap Awards (ITV1, Wednesday) followed Soapland's storyline of the year to the letter - Richard Hillman made a killing!