HAPPY days: Oz and James are back.

Quite why a couple of middle-aged blokes bickering their way around the United States should be such compelling viewing is difficult to determine - I resent a colleague's assertion that being of a similar age it's because I can relate to them!

Anyway, it's good to welcome back two old friends.

During their last series, in which they headed off across the Channel among all the xenophobia and childish behaviour (which was very funny), I actually learned quite a lot about wine.

Now they're off to more glamorous locations in the good old US of A - rather like the film Sideways - sampling the fare on offer across the pond.

Some critics have complained about James May's deliberately blokeish behaviour. Certainly in series one, he was more wine slob than wine snob.

But I prefer to think of the Top Gear man as a bit of a national treasure, dating back to the days when boys got Meccano sets and read comics. If he wants to be a curmudgeon, that's fine by me.

But as the nights draw in and the weather gets colder, at least for the next few weeks there's a little bit of sunshine to look forward to on a Tuesday evening.

Oz and James Big Wine Adventure is part pub chat, part travelogue with a bit of instruction thrown in - a perfect blend, as Oz might say!