Piers Morgan's Life Stories, Sunday 10pm, ITV1

Posted by Jane Murphy

Remember when Ulrika Jonsson was the No.1 female star in the country? Nope, me neither. But Piers Morgan insists this was once the case - so who am I to argue? However, where the tabloid press is concerned, Ulrika's undoubtedly impressive TV career has always paled into insignificance compared to her numerous high-profile relationships.

Need a recap? She's now on to her third husband, and - much to Middle England's horror - she's had four children by four different men. There was also a spot of "slap and tickle" (her words, not mine) with Prince Edward, a fling with a Gladiators star and an ill-fated engagement to footballer Stan Collymore, which ended when he physically assaulted her in a crowded bar.

Oh, and let's not forget the romance with fellow Swede and former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. What exactly was going on there?

If only Piers had dispensed with his unnecessary habit of "bigging up" his guests with a stream of hyperbole at the start of each show, he may have had time to delve a little deeper into the events that shaped Ulrika. As it was, last night's whistle-stop tour through Ms Jonsson's life story was fairly short on new revelations, merely revisiting some of the scandals already discussed in detail following the publication of her 2002 autobiography, Honest.

Still, perhaps mindful of the free publicity he could gain with a revealing soundbite or six, Piers did choose to linger over a candid chat about Ulrika's "date rape" experience, which took place in a hotel room when she was 19.

"I actually don't think he realised what he'd done," Ulrika said of her attacker. And how did she feel afterwards? "I was in physical pain. I felt a bit foolish. I felt I'd allowed myself into a situation which I shouldn't have. I blamed myself, as I had done with most things that happened in my life."

Ulrika's clearly a very complicated person, who's led a very complicated life. I certainly don't think she deserves the criticism she's attracted for her lifestyle choices - and nobody can deny that, above all else, she's proved herself to be a caring, devoted mother. But she's still a mass of contradictions: on the one hand, she denounces the "ugly infidelity" that led to the collapse of her first marriage, but then she giggles her way through reminiscences about her affair with Sven.

Ultimately, you either love her, hate her - or feel completely baffled by her. Which camp are you in?

Picture: ITV

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Piers Morgan's Life Stories, Sunday 10pm, ITV1

Posted by Jane Murphy

"I want this to be one of the best interviews ever given," said Piers Morgan in the introductory spiel to last night's show. And as his guest Katie Price already knows, there's nothing like a grand overstatement for getting everyone's attention.

But did we really need a no-holds-barred interview with the former glamour girl? After all, every aspect of her life has already been laid out for all to see on a weekly basis in OK! magazine - not to mention her three autobiographies and ITV2 reality show. She's also grown adept at giving headline-grabbing quotes about her sex life, surgery sessions and what she's had for breakfast that day. Katie's holds are never barred! Could she honestly tell Piers anything we didn't already know?

Well, yes, as it turned out. With her family looking on from the studio audience, Katie spoke very briefly - but movingly - about how she'd been sexually abused by "some weirdo in the park" at the age of six. She wouldn't go into detail about what happened, but she did get quite tearful.

Still, Piers is no Oprah - and he seemed unable to offer much in the way of empathy. Mind you, I suspect he was just chuffed at having bagged an exclusive, which - surprise, surprise - was then covered in detail in last week's News of the World, complete with a big plug for the show.

And so the interview moved on to more familiar topics: how Katie wooed future husband Peter after they met on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! ("I gave him a blow job in the toilet"); how much she misses glamour modelling ("No one wants me to do those kinds of shoots any more"); and how much she loves her kids ("Will Harvey ever have a normal life? What's a normal life?").

To be fair, it was a very good interview - but that was largely thanks to Katie's talent for giving a great answer even if the question isn't particularly interesting. You could ask her what the time is, and she'd somehow twist her reply into a revealing soundbite about her childhood or a personal attack on Kerry Katona.

But despite her media-savviness and rent-a-quote spiel, Katie still seems a very honest, down-to-earth and - whisper it! - likeable person. I'm still not sure about Piers, though...

Picture: ITV1

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The Dark Side Of Fame, Monday 10.35pm, BBC1

Posted by Jane Murphy

In a frightening turn of events that will do nothing to reduce the size of his already humungous ego, it seems Piers Morgan is being lined up as the next Michael Parkinson. The former Daily Mirror editor is set to unveil his ITV1 chat show later in the year - but for now, he gets to showcase his "charming interrogator" act on new BBC series, The Dark Side Of Fame.

Over the next few weeks, Piers has lined up a disparate array of stars including Chantelle Houghton, Jason Donovan and Jim Davidson to wax lyrical about the pitfalls of being a celebrity. However, the series kicked off on a relative high with "the most famous blonde on the planet" (Piers's words, not mine), Pamela Anderson.

Pammy, Piers and Piers's ego somehow managed to squeeze into a dimly lit trailer for a long chat about the ups and downs of being Pamela: the abusive relationships, the penchant for plastic surgery, the infamous sex tape, the hepatitis C...

Admittedly, Piers did manage to gain a vague insight into what makes Pammy tick. But rather than discuss these issues in more detail, at least 10 minutes of the total air time was given over to Channel 4 list-show-style "talking heads" (mainly Piers's old Mirror mates) - who, with the possible exception of Playboy owner Hugh Hefner, told us nothing we didn't already know.

It all made for a diverting, vaguely entertaining 45 minutes - but this definitely wasn't the probing psychological investigation it originally purported to be. And at the end, we were left with a close-up of Pammy sitting on Piers's lap, which naturally made him look even smugger than usual. Parky would never do that.

Pictures: PA

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This Morning's Dr Raj admits plagiarism

Posted by Will Parkhouse

Blimey, is it us, or is This Morning a hotbed of scurrilous activity at the moment? First Fern Britton skips class following the pasting she received over her secret weight-loss tactics. And now the show's resident psychiatrist Dr Raj Persaud has accepted that he copied other people's work and passed it off as his own in journals and newspapers.

Richard & Judy’s best kids’ books, Thursday 8pm, Channel 4

Posted by Helen Jennings

Preview rating:
Who died and made Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan the king and queen of contemporary fiction? It’s an as-yet unsolved mystery but nevertheless they have indeed become the most important figures in UK book publishing. I know, it’s frightening.

Publishers clamber to have their titles included in the Book Club section of the couple’s daily show because it guarantees that sales will rocket – and although you’d have to be a total snob to boycott the authors and novels making it onto the list, many still scrape off the glaring ‘Richard & Judy’ sticker on the dustcover as soon as they’re past the tills. For shame…

Richard & Judy’s Book Club has proved so successful that they’ve now launched a junior version. On tonight’s programme, part of the Lost for Words season on Channel 4, Richard & Judy recommend a gamut of books, authors Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson turn up for a chat, and celebrity mums Melinda Messenger (former page 3 stunna) and Tana Ramsay (wife of Gordon) road-test some of the titles on their own children.

Of course, anything that gets the nation’s young minds reading is admirable, and god bless Richard & Judy for using their influence for the greater good with this latest literary mission. But (and you knew there’d be a but) it's still staggering that it takes a couple of TV presenters to lure tiny tykes away from, well, the TV, and into the pages of a book. I’m sure there’s some delicious irony in that equation somewhere.

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Katie and Peter: Unleashed, Friday 9pm, ITV2

Posted by Will Parkhouse

Preview rating:
Tonight sees the unleashing of Katie Price, aka Jordan, onto our screens, reborn as a TV presenter.

Although you might think the combined intellectual might of Ms Price and her husband Peter “the wit” Andre would produce a programme simply too highbrow for your average viewer, from what we’ve read, it sounds like Jordan may just be using the show as a forum to air her views on her contemporaries. Check it out:

On Victoria Beckham
“Her skin has always been bad. If she looks rough, she shouldn’t go out like it. She craves attention. What is she without David? Name me five things she’s done apart from The Spice Girls and a pair of jeans and a perfume?”

On Madonna
“I think she is very fit but I do think she is a bit too muscular in some pictures.”

On Dannii Minogue
“Her Botox makes her look frozen.”

Actually, this sounds quite entertaining. I might just tune in.

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The Sharon Osbourne Show, weekdays 5pm, ITV1

Posted by Amanda Vlietstra

Shock rating:
Oh, Sharon! It probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s watched it (anyone?), but Sharon Osbourne’s teatime TV show has been axed. The programme, for which Shazza was paid a whopping £2m, has pulled in less than a million viewers in the last few months. It's true she’s no Parky, but the show’s spectacular failure probably has a lot to do with the fact that it's up against the legendary Deal Or No Deal in the same time slot on Channel 4. Even Mrs O can’t compete with the bearded god Noel Edmonds and the allure of the mysterious Banker.

The Sharon Osbourne Show is being replaced by Supermarket Sweep, presented by the ever-lovable orange god that is Dale Winton (throwing students all over the country into a hideous dilemma about which channel to tune into at 5pm. True loyalty to Deal or No Deal is set to be sorely tested).

But it’s not all bad news for Sharon – American television channel NBC has announced that she’ll be replacing R&B singer Brandy as a judge for the second season of America’s Got Talent. And even if she’s not the most scintillating of chat show hosts, if there’s one thing Sharon can do, it’s judge the hell out of anything. So it’s out with the old and in with the new, eh Mrs O?