A real turn-off

I never thought I'd say this but I actually longed for Sam Ryan and her pensive stare into space as the opener in a new series of Silent Witness unfurled. We all made fun of forensic pathologist Sam with her manner as cold and unbending as the corpses on the slab. But compared to the current bunch of experts, she was a real bundle of laughs.

Take Tom Ward's Dr Harry (preferably take him outside and give him a good slap) - his idea of showing a girl a good time is to take her to the scene of a helicopter crash.

He and forensic anthropologist Dr Nikki (Emilia Fox) are having a day out, exchanging banter as they drive home after visiting an air show. Dr Harry, it emerges, always wanted to be a high-flier although hopes of becoming a pilot were thwarted by a medical condition.

"I like cars but it takes after-burners to really turn me on," he tells her in what may well have been foreplay if a Royal Navy helicopter hadn't crashed right in front of them as they're driving home.

As it comes down on top of a detention centre for failed asylum seekers, we can be sure that the political ramifications of the accident will be even more relevant as Dr Harry takes the whole thing personally and goes into shock.

No wonder the authorities lock him up and call his boss, grumpy Professor Dalton (William Gaminara), to take charge. He's in the middle of a row with a forensic expert from the private sector over the academic status of the profession, but has to stop arguing over blood spatter patterns to attend the scene of the disaster.

Dr Nikki, meanwhile, is wandering around the scene flashing her pass - "I'm a pathologist" - and helping screaming asylum seekers.

She'd do well to tend to Dr Harry, who's showing signs of losing it, imagining he hears the dying pilot call his name and kicking boxes when he doesn't get his own way.

"What's the matter with him?" asks Prof Dalton. Surely that's his job, he's a doctor and should be telling us what's the trouble with Harry?

He's angry because a goverment minister tells reporters it was pilot error. Dr Harry smells conspiracy, worried that the blame for the crash is being put on the shoulders of those who can't answer back.

"The dead have their rights too," he shouts at Dalton. And I have the right to switch off the TV.

Amir Khan's Angry Young Men is equally annoying for assuming that the country needs another celebrity to play social worker to help reform troubled young folk.

I'm sure boxer Khan's motives are entirely honourable as he follows Jamie Oliver and Ian Wright in trying to motivate aimless young people.

Believing that the discipline of boxing can be used to transform the lives of six violent youths is an interesting theory. Trying to persuade them that his faith can help them overcome their problems strikes me as risky. Doesn't he know that forcing your religious beliefs on others leads to trouble.

At the end of the training, the six are due to go head-to-head in the ring with amateur fighters from his old club. They will literally knock some sense into this dirty half-dozen, who follow a drink, drugs and violence lifestyle.

Already, one has walked out following a binge drinking session. More alcohol-fuelled arguments and confrontations occur this time. It ends with a punch-up - not in the ring - between two of the lads.

Khan takes them off to do some charity work at a soup kitchen to instill some sense of responsibility in them. He puts them in suits and ties and takes them to a posh dinner. Most sensibly, they're forbidden to touch alcohol.

The problem is that the youths are such an unlikeable bunch showing little indication they want to reform themselves. A little gratitude for Khan's help might endear them to viewers.