LAST week we happened to mention an old hero, one Gore Vidal — essayist, novelist, screenwriter, former homeowner in west Cork — and used one of his many bons mots in this very space.

Maxine Carr told how her lover became a “nervous wreck” in the days after schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman vanished, the Old Bailey heard today.

The fire-in-the-church episode in Emmerdale - where Zoe almost set light to both herself and the vicar - looked mighty impressive and not a little dangerous for the actors taking part.