WELL that's my nightly viewing sorted out for the next eight weeks - yes, MasterChef has returned to BBC2.

It has to be one of those programmes which you file under guilty secrets' in terms of your viewing habits along with Strictly Come Dancing and New Tricks. You'll readily admit to watching every episode of The Sopranos but would you ever have an in-depth discussion on the merits of MasterChef?

Well I'm quite happy to come out and declare my allegiance to a show which is far more than a humble cookery programme.

Ostensibly it's about trying to find the best amateur cook from 130 hopefuls. In reality it has everything - drama, humour, tears, ambition. It's a veritable soap opera with added jus.

Part of the appeal lies with the two presenters, chef John Torode, the man with the annoying eating habits and veg expert Gregg Walace who sounds as though he'd be more at home on a second hand car lot flogging an Escort than in Covent Garden.

They ham it up (no pun intended) in fine style declaring "this competition just gets tougher" at every opportunity.

Then there are the contestants themselves. You cannot but marvel at what some people will conjour up in their own homes - come on how many quail have you cooked?

But thankfully there's always someone likely to have a disaster.