INSPIRED, tragically, by his accidental slaughter of a hedgehog with a hover mower, a poem by the late Philip Larkin concludes:

We should be careful of each other,

We should be kind while there is still time.

If you know a better epitaph, a more fitting message for posterity, let me know. Though I have long cherished a phrase of Walter de la Mare's, Look thy last on all things lovely every hour, I think Larkin's plea for kindliness between people just shades it out.

But it is obviously not a thought that guides the makers of the latest smash-hit TV programme, or the millions who watch it. Promoted to BBC 1 prime time after its tea-time success on BBC 2, the Anne Robinson-chaired quiz show The Weakest Link derives its impact from people being as unkind to each other as possible.

Anne Robinson leads the process of vilification. "That was a dreadful performance," she will tell a contestant. "Now it's time to get rid of the dead wood." Team members then identify their "weakest link", who is obliged to leave in what has been dubbed the "walk of shame". Anne Robinson rubs in the humiliation. "And you," she rasps to the hapless victim, "you go home with nothing".

The name of the man who devised this contemporary version of the stocks or ducking stool, watched by more than seven million in each of its first two outings, is David Young. The name of the controller who sanctioned it, and is considering running it twice a week at Christmas (season of goodwill and all that), is Lorraine Heggessey. Their BBC is a million miles from that of the corporation's founder Lord Reith, or even top figures of more recent years like Sir Hew Wheldon, who would never have approved.

"People have a sadistic streak and like to see others being humiliated," says psychologist Glen Wilson. We have to rise above that, and broadcasting should contribute, not play to our basest instincts. Far from being "careful of each other", the message of The Weakest Link is: Be nasty to others, especially to the unsuccessful.

Magnus Magnusson, who, as Mastermind chairman, had countless opportunities to humiliate people but never did, has rightly termed The Weakest Link "the theatre of cruelty". Ms Hessessey, by the way, is considering a double helping of The Weakest Link at Christmas, season of goodwill etc. Christ, if no-one else, will see the irony.

See Sharon Griffiths, opposite

LIFE begins at 40 for the Duke of York. Well, at least when one door closes another opens. Due to leave the Royal Navy, his berth since 1979, he has secured the job of vice-chairman of the British Trade International, formerly the British Overseas Trade Board. Taking over from his relative the Duke of Kent, whose endeavours in that role will, I am sure, be familiar to you all, he will travel the world to spearhead Britain's export drive. How nice - especially since his mother approves. I invite you to consider the impact of this neat, sweet job change on unemployed people who have been struggling for years to find work. Really, our royals have no idea what it's all about, have they?

AND if you insist they do, here's something else for you to ponder. An entry in the recently-published diaries of the late Lord Wyatt - former MP Woodrow Wyatt, who later chaired the Tote - says that when the Queen Mother was at Newbury racecourse to open a new stand in 1992, she commented that the Queen's recent decision to pay income tax was "the most fearful thing". She added: "We're not rich at all, not in serious terms, you know."

No doubt the QM, said to have a £4m overdraft despite a Civil List allowance that currently stands at £684,000, is not also "seriously" in debt