Fast-food culture

Big Brother 9 may have launched last night, but Monkey was busy having a dose of high culture at the Sky-sponsored Hampton Court Palace festival. While 16 wannabes were screeching their way into the BB house on Channel 4, Monkey was watching a suitably refreshed Brian Blessed narrating Carmen, even giving the bemused crowd a burst of his Pavarotti performance from Stars in Their Eyes at one point. Monkey was most impressed, however, by the interval dining. With just an hour between the two halves, how to squeeze in a four-course meal? Put it all on two plates, natch. So the starter and the main were plated together, as were the desert and the cheese and biscuits. But could this catch on, spelling the end of the long media lunch? Monkey has doubts, but would love to watch the reaction of Ivy regulars if medialand's fave lunch spot tried it.