Basil tops leaders' poll

The leaders of Britain's three major political parties have each named Basil Fawlty as their favourite TV character.

In an interview about TV viewing habits Labour leader Tony Blair said: "John Cleese took a tiny part of the British psyche and made it hilarious."

Tory leader William Hague said Basil was his favourite TV character, but he also enjoyed watching impressionist Rory Bremner and US show Frasier.

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, said Basil was a "classic".

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Madonna to 'fly' on stage

Madonna will "fly" on staged suspended by wires on her new Drowned World tour, according to German magazine Prinz.

"She is actually going to fly over the stage," backing singer Niki Harris told the magazine. "Just to come out and sing is simply not her thing."

Harris said the show needed so much space that rehearsals were being held in sports arenas: "Madonna needs a lot of room."

The tour, Madonna's first in eight years, starts in Barcelona on 9 June.

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Warhol pops up in Moscow

This week is Andy Warhol week in Moscow, with film, photo and painting tributes to the late US pop artist.

Warhol's once remarked that Moscow was not a beautiful city because it had no McDonald's fast-food restaurant.

Now Vitaly Mishin, deputy director of the Pushkin Museum has described Warhol as "a modern cultural legend" and staged an exhibition of 70 Warhol works - including portraits of Mao Zedong, Marilyn Monroe and Jaqueline Kennedy - which will open on Tuesday.

Fourteen of his films are scheduled to be shown during the week and there will be an exhibition of works by 30 Russian artists influenced by Warhol.

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Sopranos a hit in Italy

The hit Italian-American TV mob drama The Sopranos has been a hit in its debut outing in Italy, attracting nearly a quarter of the viewing audience despite a poor timeslot.

Italy's high profile TV critic, Aldo Grasso called the show "intelligent, ironic, full of psychological and narrative subtleties" in the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Other critics felt the same and newly elected Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's company Mediaset, which is airing The Sopranos is moving the show to a better time slot.

The series has been an award and ratings winner in the US but drew criticism from some Italian-Americans who saw the show as full of stereotypes.