Buffy The Vampire Slayer

But, you know, it’s not all bad. One of the upsides is this: They introduce you to TV that you would never have thought of watching - such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BBC2, 6.45pm).

For those of you who are not teenagers, Buffy fights vampires. She’ll stretch to demons and monsters, too.

Her all-American hometown is inconveniently sited at Hellmouth, a doorway for horrible creatures.

She has special powers, but she has a hard/dangerous/confusing time until she eventually wins.

It’s easy to see why she appeals to the adolescent, moving into a scary adult world.

I may be justifying a worrying adolescent streak in myself here, but I think Buffy goes further than the average superhero story.

Firstly, it’s funny. "We are your archnemesis... ses... sissies’’ stammered one of the teenage nerds-turned-bad, who attacked Buffy with an invisibility gun in last night’s episode.

Then they tried - and failed - to escape in a dramatic puff of smoke. It’s an old joke, but a good one.

Secondly, it’s often sad or frightening, and it shows that life is hard work.

Buffy’s in a relationship that she doesn’t want, but can’t end.

Her friend Willow’s relationship ended when she didn’t want it to.

There are misunderstandings and missed opportunities. And there’s the recognition that some sadnesses never go away.

Each self-contained story weaves into a series-long story and not just a general soapy situation, like Star Trek (main story: Here we all are on a space ship, exploring) or Farscape (main story: Here we all are on a space ship, lost).

Buffy’s is a developing, how-on-earth-will-it-all-end kind of story. The current series isn’t as nerve-racking as the last one, but you can’t be sure what will happen.

If you’ve never watched it, try it, especially if you’ve got teenagers, and let me know what you think.

If no one else in Leicester over 20 can stand it, at least I’ll know it’s time I grew up.

If I see one more glossy police drama with an ex-soapstar lead, a cockney baddie, a token black boss, plinky-plonk music for the comic parts, and a keyboard drone for the scary parts, I’ll eat my woolly winter hat.

Serious and Organised (ITV 9pm) looked and sounded like at least a dozen other dramas.

I wish I could tell you more, but I had to turn it off and go and de-scale my kettle instead.