As I suggested earlier this month, Alistair Cooke's decision to give up Letter From America was a clear sign that he was not long for the world.

BBC News: Broadcaster Cooke dies aged 95

Acting BBC director general Mark Byford said "Alistair Cooke was one of the greatest broadcasters ever in the history of the BBC" -- and few would disagree.

You can listen again to some of Cooke's most memorable despatches here.



In other media news, 13 episodes of the surreal 70s TV show Monkey have been found.

I remember watching it as a kid and it made no sense whatsoever but that doesn't seem to matter when you're 6 years old -- although I couldn't understand why Monkey et al kept insisting that Tripitaka was a bloke when she clearly wasn't.