In Search of the Brontes (BBC1); Smart Sharks - Swimming with Roboshark (BBC1): The tale of the Bronte sisters would not have looked out of place in one of their novels.

Three girls from a family of six children, brought up by their doting father after their mother and two siblings died.

Determined to be more than nannies or housekeepers, Charlotte, Emily and Anne came out of the shadow of their cad-like brother Branwell to become international literary icons before their untimely deaths.

This was the first in a two-part dramatisation of the Brontes' lives and concentrated on their early years.

Using letters written by the family and historical research, we were thrust straight into their 19th century lives and loves.

Patricia Routledge's narration sounded at times like a study aid for cramming A-level students, but was broken up by the actors being given the chance to find the voices of the family.

Sadly, some of the accents were a bit hit and miss but not even this could distract from the extravagance of the costumes and sets employed by the BBC to tell this story.

And that is where the programme's real strength lay - a romantic story so fantastic and colourful it could not have been made up and which carried the viewer effortless along.

We were left with a dramatic cliffhanger worthy of any modern day soap opera and will now have to tune in next week to see how the dramatic and tragic end of the Brontes' lives are dealt with.

There were more dramatic moments later on BBC1 when we were introduced to Roboshark for the first time.

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water the BBC wildlife team have created a robotic shark that can record what really happens in the thick of the action of a group of killers.

Wildlife cameramen the world over must have breathed a sigh of relief when they heard about Roboshark - no more risking their necks to get the best shot when a robot can do it for them.

But Roboshark was not just a talented and fearless photographer, it was also put to work to find out things we have never known before about the shark world.

The robot put the sharks through their paces in Krypton Factor-style - testing their intelligence and communication skills.

We found out sharks are actually pretty clever - they knew that Roboshark wasn't real but still let it into their world - and thank goodness they did, allowing us to see some of the most dramatic and truly frightening wildlife footage ever.

Published: 04/08/2003