It was unfortunate timing that just as the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, was committing the corporation to ploughing millions more pounds into top-quality TV and radio content, BBC Radio 1 announced the latest contribution to its public service canon: Talk to the Hand – the Story of Masturbation.
A legitimate topic for discussion, of that Monkey has no doubt, but also a gift for the BBC's less broad-minded critics. "I'm left handed but it tends to be more with my right hand. I don't know why," offered one contributor. "I was feeling horny, innit. I use condoms. I don't like the mess," said another. Social action at its best — or a load of wank?
