It probably wasn’t her intention, but Sara Pascoe gave me an unexpected hour of pleasure on Wednesday night.
It was all thanks to her suggestion that The Great British Sewing Bee ’s judges, Esme Young and Patrick Grant, were working on a new sewing-themed detective series.
Sara called it Snitches Get Stitches and, although I did quite like that title, I thought I could do better.
I won’t bore you with the full process. Let’s just say it began with me high-fiving myself for Hemline Of Duty and ended with me sending myself to bed for The Ruche Rendell Mysteries.
Anyway, the BBC should definitely make Patrick and Esme’s crime-busting spin-off.
Let’s face it, ITV managed to get three series out of Rosemary & Thyme in the mid-2000s so clearly anything is possible.
I wouldn’t want it to interfere with their day jobs though. Sewing Bee is far too important.
As wholesome, feelgood TV goes, this BBC show is up there with The Repair Shop.
This latest series began with Sara saying the words every fan wanted to hear: “This year’s Sewing Bee is just like the last.”
She wasn’t lying either.
The only thing that has changed is the contestants – and even they had a strangely familiar feel about them.
The clear early favourite for this year’s crown is Asmaa, although given she is a surgeon we shouldn’t have been surprised by her faultless stitching.
I was also quite taken with Vicky, who proudly showed off the crocheted figurines she’d made of herself and her husband on their wedding day. (Mr Vicky, if you could reach out and let us know you’re safe that’d be great.)
Elsewhere, quote of the night was a toss-up between Tony W, whose “I’ve never French-seamed an armhole in my life” just needed “Your Honour” at the end of it; and Esme, who suddenly announced “I collect skulls. I’ve got a bull’s head, a sheep’s head and a goat’s head”.
At which point that spin-off took a darker turn. Maybe it’s one for Netflix instead.
