ANOTHER little gem from BBC4 this week when comedian Rich Hall presented Continental Drifters, his own distinct take on the history of the road movie.

The laconic Hall is always worth watching but he appears to have added an extra dimension in his new role as documentary maker.

His previous offering on the Rednecks of the South was compulsive viewing but this week’s offering was even better.

Sitting in the back of a pick-up truck wearing a ridiculous jacket and obligatory stetson, Hall told the story of the road movie.

It was in part 90-minute rant (something Hall is particularly good at) but also a very well observed and interesting documentary.

Forget the ridiculous Grumpy Old Men series much beloved by the Beeb, Hall is the real deal. His scathing attacks on Jeremy Clarkson and the Star Wars movies (compared to a bad cheesecake) were pure comic genius.

But underneath all the vitriol there were so many facts and acute observations that this programme should be shown as part of an A-level course into American studies.

The Beeb should simply hand Hall a production crew and tell him to carry on touring around his native America and give him free rein to come up with a whole series of documentaries.