A Tribute To The Likely Lads (ITV)

Kylie: Spinning Around (C5)

IT seemed an inspired idea to star Ant and Dec (or Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, as they're billed here) to remake an old Likely Lads script - one of today's most popular duos in a piece of TV history.

But the Geordie pair faced a difficult task, for the memory of James Bolam and Rodney Bewes as Terry and Bob is a lingering one.

There were times during A Tribute To The Likely Lads I felt I was watching Ant and Dec but still hearing Bolam and Bewes in my head.

This was the classic episode, No Hiding Place, in which the Terry and Bob characters try to get through the day without hearing the result of the England v Bulgaria match before watching it on the telly in the evening.

There was a certain amount of updating of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais's original script, setting one scene in a Starbucks-style coffee shop and references to George Clooney, Ann Widdecombe, and text messages.

Most of the jokes and situations remain unaltered. Even Bewes made a cameo appearance (as a one-legged newspaper vendor) for old time's sake.

The result was certainly no disgrace. Ant and Dec proved themselves as capable of handling dialogue as they are performing presenting duties on Pop Idol. The jokes worked, Newcastle's Millennium Bridge received yet more TV exposure and the half-hour passed quickly enough.

As a tribute, it was fine. As a series, it would be a mistake. They would do as well to re-run old episodes, and find Ant and Dec a sit-com to call their own.They are pop stars returning to their acting roots.

KYLIE Minogue is a soap star who became a pop diva. Spinning Around told her story with all the people you expected, including Pete Waterman, Jason Donovan and ex-cast members of Neighbours, lining up to say nice things about her.

She recalled her TV acting debut as an eight-year-old in The Sullivans. She said her Dutch accent was awful, something confirmed by the clip shown. This "pop fairy tale" saw her became the first female artist to have 13 successive top ten entries and, at 20, the youngest female to top the album charts.

After ditching boyfriend and Neighbours co-star Jason Donovan for wild rock star Michael Hutchence, a sexier Kylie emerged. And so it went on: the switch to a new record label, the flop album, the comeback, her current top of the pops status.

Moulin Rouge director Baz Lurhman attributed her appeal to the same mixture of innocence and sexuality that Marilyn Monroe possessed.

Kylie may well follow that blonde into movies, admitting to "a growing desire to get back into acting". Previous attempts haven't worked. Reminded of a Hollywood martial arts movie called Street Fighter, Kylie said: "You live and learn is all I'm going to say."