The Vicky Pryce Case.

Yes that's right there is now officially so little on TV that I've got around to writing this up.

You may remember that back in 2011 it emerged that the UK's Senior Minister for Climate Change Chris Huhne got his then wife Vicky Pryce to take penalty points on her driving license after he had been caught on camera driving faster then the speed limit. This led to Huhne resigning his ministerial post and the pair being charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. At trial Huhne plead guilty and now awaits the custodial sentence that inevitably follows conviction for what is considered the most serious criminal offence.

Then the trial of his bitter ex-wife began. Ms Pryce is running a defence of marital coercion. That is to say she admits to committing the criminal act but is not guilty of the offence because pressure from her husband rendered her unable to refuse. In order to support this defence Pryce has tried very hard in Court to portray Huhne as an aggressive bully. This has included the playing of secretly recorded telephone conversations in which Pyrce tries to get Huhne to admit that he forced her to commit the offence, scandalous details about their divorce after Huhne left to live with his mistress and claims that Huhne forced Pyrce to have an abortion.

Aside from the issue of climate change which as I've explained is deeply unpopular within the British Establishment this case really has everything. Speeding offences are by far the most commonly committed criminal offence in the UK to the point where I can't think of a driver I know who hasn't been convicted of it at least once. The divorce and abortion elements would have struck a cord with the growing number of British people who have been through those experiences. Then there's all the salacious stuff about the pair's relationship with their children (a constant worry for us all) and the supposed bisexuality of Huhnes mistress. For good measure the secretly recorded telephone calls brought make memories of phone-hacking as the Establishment once again launches an attack on press freedoms through the defamation bill and that nonsense about the Duchess of Cambridge bikini shots. So this soap opera of trial should have captivated the nation and forced us all to examine our attitudes to the issues raised.

The problem was that no-one seemed that interested. So the Judge dismissed the Jury essentially accusing them of being too stupid to comprehend the issues involved and declared a mis-trial. Therefore we've got to go through it all again starting sometime next week.

I sincerely hope they gett the ratings they crave this time because I for one couldn't sit through the first episode never mind an third series.

23:35 on 21/2/13.