Republican Edna no longer a Dame

Edna Everage: Once a royalist, but a Dame no more

Housewife superstar Dame Edna Everage is now plain Mrs Edna Everage after relinquishing her title and declaring her support for Australian republicans.

Down Under for her first tour in five years, the republican debate raging in Australia has brought Edna firmly out of the anti-monarchy closet.

"I've always been a royalist because the royal family adore me, and I'm a close personal friend of all the royal family, whatever scallywags they are," she said.

"I've been a dame for many years. I've been worshipped, really, in Australia and it's time I got a bit of reality into my life."

She broke the news while announcing the tour, which will see her share the stage with alter ego Barry Humphries.

Australia will vote later this year on whether to drop the Queen as head of state.

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Mixed reviews for Sex And The City

Sex And The City: Premiered on Channel 4 on Wednesday

TV reviewers have delivered mixed verdicts on the first instalments of Channel 4's controversial new import Sex And The City, premiered on Wednesday evening.

The Sun's Katie Puckrick preferred it to Ally McBeal, saying it "wasn't sappy" and lead singleton Sarah Jessica Parker was "winning, not whining".

The Mirror's Tony Purnell said: "Basically, it's Charlie's Angels for the millennium with bonking instead of crime-busting Even if you are embarrassed watching it, it will bring a smile to your face."

Joe Joseph in The Times said: "The show arrives with that sheen of intelligent sophistication that so many British comedies lack, but it could be all foreplay and no sex."

However, the Daily Mail's Peter Paterson dubbed it heartlessly cynical and The Independent called it "dreadfully old fashioned".

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Edwards film premieres

Anthony Edwards: Starring in a "British Sleepless in Seattle"

Anthony Edwards, who plays sensitive Dr Green in the medical drama ER, launches his first leading man role in a British film on Thursday night.

He woos Jenny Seagrove in Don't Go Breaking My Heart, which has its premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square.

Described as a "British Sleepless In Seattle", it also stars Charles Dance and Lynda Bellingham, with cameos from Tom Conti, Madness frontman Suggs and athlete Linford Christie.

It opens across Britain on 12 February.

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Baywatch begs for help

Baywatch: Wants help with Australian move

Baywatch might claim to be the world's most popular TV show - but now it is pleading poverty and asking the Australian government for financial help for its proposed move Down Under.

The show's producers say they fell in love with Australia last year while filming in Sydney and want to move permanently.

But they claim the moving costs will be $11m a year and if they don't get aid, the show may have to move to Mexico.

Already, the show's plans to move to the Sydney suburb of Avalon have caused uproar in the sleepy beach-side community.

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Bye bye Bonnie

Bowing out: Bonnie with Konnie Kuq and Stuart Miles

Bonnie, the Blue Peter dog, has retired from the children's programme after 13 years in front of the camera.

She made her first appearance on the show as the six-week old puppy of the previous dog, Goldie, and took over when her mother retired in 1986.

She has has appeared on 1,150 editions of the show, with 16 different presenters.

Her seven brothers and sisters were trained with Guide Dogs for the Blind, and she had seven puppies of her own, although the smallest died shortly after birth.

Bonnie is the show's second longest-serving pet, beaten only by Petra, the dog who was with the show for 15 years in the 1960s and 70s and is remembered with a bronze statue at BBC Television Centre in London.

She will spend her final years in retirement in Surrey with the show's pet carer Leonie Pocock.