On TV

Jane is lying on a hospital trolley on her way to theatre for an emergency heart by-pass operation. Suddenly another trolley bearing her husband pulls up alongside.

Or what's left of her husband. Not for nothing is this episode called Out On A Limb. He's lost an arm - how careless - while hiding in a liftshaft, having stolen his employer's takings to put on a horse.

Seeing Billy bloody and limbless does nothing for Jane's angina, although considerately she waits until later to have a heart attack.

Life at Holby is never dull. The blood-letting continues in the corridors where doctors and surgeons are so busy bitching about each other that it would be a sensible, if impractical, safety measure to hide sharp instruments.

Jac and Diane are competing for a vacant consultant surgeon's post. They're more competent than Dr Sam Strachan, who's lied about his experience in the theatre. He thought playing the lead in a school production of Dr Faustus was qualification enough.

His boss isn't about let him back into theatre so he can say (and I swear someone did this week) "I need a larger, more effective orifice".

She tells him, "After last week's performance, you won't get anywhere near a patient with anything sharper than that tie you're wearing. Now get on with your ward round and try not to kill anybody".

He doesn't listen as he wants to help Jane, who fears losing her foster children if she's in hospital. Strachan coaches her to look more unstable than she is, making her eligible for emergency surgery. That's one way of queue-jumping NHS waiting lists.

Meanwhile, Jac's trying to prove her worth by rummaging around in the basement for Billy's arm. Her colleagues are less convinced of the value of reattachment. "Let's deal with the majority of the patient we have here," said one.

Strachan worries about the delay in finding a surgeon to operate on Jane. "We could lose this slot," he says, sounding like a pilot in a runway queue. So he starts operating himself, which is like Billy One Arm trying to tie his own shoelaces.

Soon Strachan's comment, "How's this for multi-tasking? If you want the floor swept, fetch a broom" is looking like a bad joke, as Jane's blood refuses to clot.

The biggest clot, of course, is Strachan complaining that "I can't see a thing, why is she still bleeding?".

Jac and Diane are still squabbling over Billy's arm. "You're not the only one who's done attachments," snipes Jac. I half expected the two women to have a tug-of-war with the severed limb over the operating table.

Thank goodness for big boss Ric Griffin. "This is no time to save an arm, this man could be dying," he snaps. At last, someone who knows where to stick a thermometer.

And who did get the job? Why, returning Holby medic Nick Jordan, who behaved as if he'd never been away. His re-attachment to Holby is smoother than reuniting Billy and his arm.

Kelly Clarkson, Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

IF you'd have thought we'd have had enough of TV talent show winners by now, then Kelly Clarkson's appearance in the North-East proved otherwise. The US songstress, who was crowned American Idol in the Pop Idol spin-off, came out to frenzied cheering from the eager Newcastle crowd. That there was hardly a spare seat in the giant venue was further testimony to her appeal.

Things got off to a strong start, with Clarkson belting out hits like Miss Independent with great gusto. Whatever you think of her, at least she can sing. Dressed in cut-off trousers and a vest top, and with her new-look blonde hair, she strutted around the stage in bare feet.

While it was edgy, rock-chic tracks like Since U Been Gone that really raised the roof, Clarkson displayed her versatility with some bluesy songs and ballads. In a tribute to Annie Lennox, she sang a cover of Why, and it was nice to hear her comments throughout the set - for example, that she wrote Because Of You as a heartbroken 16-year-old. If this performance was anything to go by, Clarkson will be around for a long time yet.

Sarah Foster

The Paddingtons, Carling Academy 2

When The Libertines came, saw and conquered it paved the way for many bands to make their mark on the music industry. Some have tried and failed, but some show enough potential to suggest they may last. The Paddingtons took inspiration from The Libertines but are a band with a potentially very successful future ahead of them.

They opened this sold-out gig with Some Old Girl and rattled through a packed 50-minute set full of high quality punk influenced tracks from their stunning debut album, First Comes First.

Main support Five O'clock Heroes were a solid, very slick indie band whose songs were of a high calibre. But it was opening act Dustin's Bar Mitzvah who really shone as the best support band. Their sound is a mixture of the frenetic speed of The Ramones with the sound of Sham 69, it's a prefect combination.

The Paddingtons are not only a band that can have a long career, but are also the sort of band who can make a lasting impression and inspire future bands, much like The Libertines.

Keir Waugh