IF you had said that I'd be staying up past my bedtime on a school night to watch a feature on a Venezuelan conductor I'd have said you were crackers.

But that's not taking into account the Culture Show factor.

For some reason, which I'm still struggling to forgive, TV's most intelligent and diverse programme has been moved from a Saturday evening slot to Tuesdays.

No doubt the programmers have all sorts of graphs to show why, but I rather liked to believe that there was more to Saturday night's than vacuous entertainment'.

Anyway, the wonderful Lauren Laverne is back. If only the Fearne Cottons of this world would just sit down and watch her for 10 minutes, TV would be a better place.

And the good news is that Mark Kermode appears to have been given more screen time, playing Oscar the Grouch to Laverne's Kermit.

The Culture Show reaffirms your faith in TV's ability to fulfill the broadest Reithian principles, namely to inform and entertain. You find yourself becoming enthralled by subjects you didn't know you had an interest in - Venezualan conductors for example - all brought to life by knowledgeable and genuinely enthusiatic presenters.

For the real devotees, there's an extended version of the show late on Friday nights too.

Tune in, you won't regret it.