On the case

IF you’re a huge fan who purposefully avoids reading spoilers to stop the storylines being ruined for you, then you should probably look away now.

Considering that Britain is nine months behind the US in broadcasting the show, and taking into account the sheer volume of cliffhanger-trashing promotional material that’s out there, you’ll have been hard-pressed to avoid learning that Horatio Caine isn’t really dead.

Yes, despite the shocking finale to the last series, the show wasn’t really ready to kill off its lead character just yet.

Apologies to anyone who didn’t know, but the real mystery now is how and why people have been led to believe Horatio was murdered.

While the fans can put that bit of speculation safely out of the way, as this seventh season begins, the team have no such luxury.

Picking up right where the last episode left off, Calleigh and Delko race to the scene when they receive the call that Horatio has been gunned down at the airfield.

However, by the time they arrive, his body has gone and Ryan greets the agents by a pool of blood, where he informs them that Horatio has been shot and killed.

Calleigh is devastated and the team work flat-out to discover who was responsible for Horatio’s apparent murder.

However, the truth turns out to be a great deal more complicated than they ever expected when, on a hunch, Calleigh and Delko check ATF Agent Caldwell’s mobile phone records and discover he was the one who sent Ryan the “It’s done”

message at the end of last season.

Delko is furious as he confronts Ryan, “It looks like you and Caldwell were responsible for Horatio’s murder!” he shouts.

Backed into a corner, Ryan has no choice but to reveal that Horatio, having heard old foe Juan Ortega has put a hit on him, asked him and Caldwell to help Horatio fake his own death.

However, Horatio’s life is on the line for real as he continues the case they were working on, trying to prove his former girlfriend’s new husband is selling dangerous fused-alloy bullets.

With tense stories, gorgeous scenery, and unexpected cliffhangers like these, it’s easy to see why the sun-kissed crime drama is one of the most popular shows both here and across the Pond.

In fact many, including the cast, were surprised when it began to outstrip its parent show CSI.

“I’ve had a growing sense of the importance of the show’s audience outside the US,” says David Caruso, who plays Horatio.

“We work very hard to make it as unique as possible because we have always been in the shadow of the big show.”

THE British contributions to world cuisine have not been overly plentiful.

We do chips rather well. And we can serve them with a fried egg like nobody else on the planet. So, it’s no surprise we are looking a little big-boned.

But what is the state of play elsewhere in the world?

In part two of the challenge to find what could be the world’s best diet, presenter Jonathan Maitland and four overweight celebrities – Linda Robson, Cheryl Baker, Darren Gough and Carole Malone – continue their journey to discover why other nations are bucking the obesity trend and how they compare to the UK.

Tonight, Birds of a Feather actress Linda Robson lands in Japan, where only three per cent of people are obese and where they live longer, healthier lives than anyone else in the world.