'The Planners' is one of very few programmes that my wife and I watch together. She enjoys the human interest and drama at the heart of each application and I enjoy the novelty of seeing what I do on a daily basis being processed as prime time 'docu-soap'. (We both enjoy playing the 'approved or refused' guessing game half way through each programme.) Since my wife has no idea about the planning system the programme also helpfully explains to her what I do between leaving in the morning and getting home at night. It is, I tell her, a pretty accurate reflection of my world. The individuals that are featured generally reflect the officers, members, nimbies, architects and consultants that I come across and work with (though I have to tell her that it is not typical for officers to visit objectors to explain recommendations...). Since though I do have an idea about the planning system I do not, as my wife does, take the editorial tone and narrative of th