Katherine

The Vampire Diaries continues to get better each week. Last week, Elena copped onto the fact that something was amiss with Stefan and this week after learning about him and Damon's true nature, she elected to dump Stefan. Granted she'll probably be back with him in the next episode but I liked that her reaction to the supernatural world was done in a mostly realistic manner. Nina Dobrev however was a lot more fun donning the Katherine role of the episode, the vampire responsible for manipulating and making both Stefan and Damon into the vampires they are. Looking forward to seeing more of Katherine as well as the newly sired Vicki, whose struggles with her new unlife could be very interesting in the next few weeks.

Merlin, after a nine month wait finally returned to BBC1 on Saturday and it felt like it had never gone away. While the previous year had played it a little too safe for my liking, it does loo like this year won't be doing the same thing. It could be argued that Morgana might have revealed herself too early as a baddie but I am certainly enjoying the havoc that both her and Morgause are brewing up - driving Uther mad, invading Camelot and also leaving Merlin chained up in a forest with various nasties. Of course, the dragon appearing ensured that Merlin wouldn't meet a grisly end anytime soon but aside from that (and Gwen having nothing to do), this was a fantastic opening episode for the new series.

What is it with this Checkmate lot - don't they ever watch television? If Waller is that desperate to get superheroes on her side, why doesn't she just ask them for help instead of kidnapping them like she attempted to/succeeded with Oliver and Chloe this week? Smallville's ninth season is getting closer to it's end and after episodes involving Scottish entities and Lois still desperately needing a clue, last night's episode was a welcome change of pace. Tess is at something of a crossroads as a character and I have a feeling that she's going to lose out, regardless of what side she chooses to allign herself with. Shame because I like Cassidy Freeman and want her to stick with the show for it's last season at least.

Ooh, remember a time when Channel 4 did dramas? Sometimes it can be hard to forget because too often, it's makeover shows that seem to dominate the schedules too often and apart from Shameless and Skins, This Is England 86 finally gave us something gritty(ish) to gawp at. The movie isn't one of my favourites but there are some good actors on this show and the characters are mostly likeable. I might need to see another episode or two before I'm totally sold on this series though but it's a promising one.

- It turns out that Luc will become an underwear model in the second episode of Brothers And Sisters fifth season.

- Here's Glee's take on Empire State Of Mind ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfjv4IZFLUo and expect Barry Bostwick and Meatloaf in The Rocky Horror Picture Show episode.

- Both Michael Gladis and Kevin Alejandro are set to appear in the new season of Law And Order: SVU.

- Matthew Lilliard will be appearing in House, playing a bass player struggling for years. He's scheduled for one episode of the new series.

- John Schneider will be appearing in Desperate Housewives, playing the father of Brian Austin Green's character, Keith.