Grimsdale's novel comeback

Peter Grimsdale, the former Channel 4 executive, whose first novel Perfect Night is Radio 4's Book at Bedtime, returned to the broadcaster last night for a launch party. The do was packed with his former Channel 4 colleagues, including Peter Salmon; Stuart Cosgrove, whose Sri Lankan wife helped to authenticate the details of the Grimster's novel, as the thriller is set on the island; Andrew Brann, now running Love Productions; and numerous independent producers, including Roy Ackerman and Roger Graef. In his speech Grimsdale recalled one of the peaks of his Channel 4 career, applying the broadcaster's "penetration protocol" to a heated debate about whether to show Jade Goody having sex under a duvet in Big Brother 3, which he was overseeing. "It was in, it was out, it was back in again," he recalled. Those were the days.