Quids in thanks to books full of stars' autographs

Mal Pope is a songwriter who co-produced the film Jack To A King, about the 10-year rise of Swansea City FC

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National Waterfront Museum for the Antiques Roadshow

KNOW they say that families don’t sit down together to watch television as much as they used to but there are still a few shows that can get everyone together.

Autumnal Saturday evenings wouldn’t be the same without Strictly and when it comes to Sundays, well Sunday evenings are now an institution. I suppose we all know the weekend is coming to an end. Maybe we've managed to be a bit selfish and watch a couple of games of football in the afternoon, but I think the BBC have got their scheduling just right for Sunday evenings.

T have always hankered for the Countryfile style of life. In fact my degree in land economy maybe was a bit of a precursor to my interest in wildlife and agriculture. One of my most memorable moments studying for that degree wasn’t actually in Cambridge it was on a farm on Gower.

A family friend worked for the Ministry of Agriculture and he took me out for the day to visit some local farms. We stopped off at a farm near Penmaen and we were taken by the farmer to visit a cow in labour. By the time we entered the barn the cow was fairly far gone, and the calves front feet were already visible. We waited for a while, but it seemed everything had stopped progressing for the moment. As an aside I said to the farmer that I had never seen anything being born. With that he grabbed some rope, tied it around the protruding hoofs and pulled the calf out. I’m not sure who was more shocked me or the cow or the calft!

Of course Countryfile isn’t all about farming which means it appeals to everyone.