LUCY SORTS IT WITH X-FACTOR

SHE had to suffer Pauline Fowler as her mother-in-law in EastEnders and endure a stormy on-off relationship with co-star Steve 'Doughboy' McFadden in real life. It was about time something nice happened to Lucy Benjamin.

On Monday night she defied the odds to win ITV1's The X-Factor: Battle of the Stars in the final showdown with burly rugby player Matt Stevens, whose success during the week was a complete mystery to me.

I suppose it was a curiosity that a bull-necked rugger boy could sing a note in tune, but for me he had as much charisma as the oval-shaped ball itself. And his rendition of New York, New York was as karaoke as it gets.

I suppose viewers found it easy to relate to Lucy's utter terror at the start of the competition, when she was practically begging to be sent packing.

As the days progressed, however, it soon became clear that a rich, pleasant singing voice was slowly emerging from her shaking frame. In the end, her performances were head and shoulders above everyone else, so this was one reality show result that the public got right.

The first few days of the contest were overshadowed by the running feud between judge Sharon Osbourne and non-celebrity Rebecca Loos, whose presence was calculated to cause controversy. Along with her fellow performer James Hewitt, the woman is making a career out of notoriety and should not be indulged by programme makers in her efforts to profit further.

The whole atmosphere of the show lifted when she and her tuneless partner were ejected, and I for one hope that is the last we see of either on our screens again.

I also never want to see Gillian McKeith prancing around on a stage again, looking like mutton dressed as lamb and sounding like said old sheep. Grow up, woman, and go back to inspecting the contents of sad people's toilets.

For sheer entertainment value, my personal favourites were The Chefs, who did not let the lack of musical talent get in their way. They attacked every song with the same verve and threw their bodies around with wild abandon - the word dancing would not do it justice! When they left the competition, the dynamism they had created left the building as well.

DJ Chris Moyles entertained at first but, as he found himself edging closer to the final, he developed an ungracious lack of humility that was not attractive. No wonder he hid his face with a Simon Cowell mask during the mass 'singalong' with the other competitors during the final.

Talking of facial camouflage, in the first of a Doctor Who two-part story (BBC1, Saturday) the spooky goings on included Casualty's deceased paramedic Woody being infected by the same decorated skin phenomena as shown in a current mobile phone TV commercial.

The only difference was that Woody was also afflicted with glowing red eyes - not an unfamiliar sight in any accident and emergency department on a Saturday night!