I'm not proud of it, but I've just sat and watched an entire edition of Look East. Which is not something I do very often, due to the obvious risk of catching Julie Reinger.

(The way I've just phrased that makes her sound like a disease. But hey, if the cap fits...)

It's a risk I'm not usually prepared to take, but today was different, thanks to the promise of a special appearance from our very own King Nicholas, who recently informed me that he plays the drums. It came as something of a surprise, as I'd previously thought the only drummers to come out of Norfolk were small, greasy, and made from turkey.

But hey, two out of three ain't bad.

Anyhoo, Nick did indeed appear on tonight's show, though not quite when I expected. I started the video rolling the moment Stewart White introduced an item with the words "Eighteen years ago Look East reported on a young couple from Norfolk, and their struggle to bring up a son with severe physical problems...", fully expecting the next line to be "That son is now King Nicholas the First". It turned out to be a bit of a false dawn.

But having sat through twenty minutes of Mr Smug & the Sour Faced Scarecrow...



... (which really ought to be the title of my next novel)...

... Nick did indeed turn up with a feature filmed at Copeman Palace. Now, I'm not saying it was a slow news day, but they also had a brick expert on. And a hedge expert. And a man with a CBE for services to mining, who checks his barometer six times a day. So in that kind of company, Nick actually came across as quite normal. Especially once Julie Reinger took to the stage.

But it was another quality public appearance, although the bit where Nick spelled out my website address for the watching millions presumably got edited out at the last moment. I wish I hadn't bought his book now. I wonder if Amazon will let me cancel my order? I could've bought the new Hanson album instead.

Anyhoo, I'm off now to slag him off on the BBC Norfolk Messageboard under an assumed name.