HAS it really been 10 years since Animal Hospital was first wheeled in to our living rooms?

A decade ago, national treasure Rolf Harris was all set to hang up his wobbleboard for good and settle down with pipe and slippers when he was asked to present a live broadcast from London's Harmsworth Hospital, which was only supposed to last a week.

Consequently, it ran and ran.

Animal Hospital: The Big Story (Monday, BBC1, 8.30pm) looked back down the years to the programme's humble beginnings, and how it blossomed in the nation's hearts, but this was by no means a cheap re-hash of a few clips.

No, indeed. Viewers were treated to seeing Rolf at home, dishing out pet food to his own two cats. The vets who stitched, injected and loved the programme's many animals back to health also had a bit of a say, and of course we were treated to clips of the 'real stars - the animals'.

On the subject of little animals, I couldn't help but sit and watch open mouthed as the horrors in the new series of That'll Teach 'Em (Tuesday, C4, 9pm) unfolded before my eyes.

This time programme makers have recreated a model 1960s residential Secondary Modern for 15 girls and 15 boys to take CSEs in a mixture of vocational and academic subjects.

The pupils swearing in front of the teaching staff I could just about cope with. What really stuck in my craw was the fact that a 16-year-old couldn't spell "tongue", "remember" or "imaginatively".

Partly because I'm a fan of New York, but more that I couldn't be bothered to change the channel after That'll Teach 'Em, I continued festering on the sofa to check out the 'gritty' new drama NY-LON (Tuesday, C4, 10pm). I think the plot had something to do with a New York woman getting her bag stolen in London and then striking up a romance with the bloke who helped her get it back. However, within only a few minutes, motion sickness took hold due to all the fancy camerawork. Talk about style over content. At least you know where you are with Animal Hospital.