Peter Rhodes on the feminising of Poldark, outraged politicians and re-building sunken cities

I MAY not know much about the intricacies of prorogation but anything that simultaneously outrages John Bercow, Keir Starmer, Anna Soubry, Nicola Sturgeon and Alastair Campbell can't be all bad.

BADGERS are supposed to be shy and timid creatures, shunning human company. Yet one family of badgers has just dug a new sett in plain view, no more than 70 yards from a farm house near us. The badgers have either figured out that humans are benevolent or, possibly, that these perspiring, two-legged creatures sweating in a heatwave, are a species in terminal decline and not worth worrying about.

POLDARK (BBC1) reflected not only Cornish life in the 19th century but also the rise and rise of women in television. From directors to producers, executive producers and screenwriter, this production team is largely female, and it shows.

IN the final episode, male viewers, noting the vast horde of guns and gunpowder in the old mine, probably guessed that Poldark was going to end in the good old, tried and trusted masculine way with A Big Explosion and dead Frenchmen flying through the air from Truro to Bodmin. Not a chance. The detonation was barely a puff of smoke, the chief villain was not even killed and the chief villainess escaped any punishment. The series ended with Ross gazing wistfully into the sunset before sailing for France where he will no doubt turn vegan, discover romantic poetry and set up a yoga class. Doesn't exactly shiver the timbers, does it? Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of Evian.

DONALD Trump says he might be prepared to speak to the leaders of Iran. Do not put money on it. Presidents are not as free as they like to think. It is almost 60 years since President Dwight D Eisenhower warned his fellow Americans of what he called "the military / industrial complex," the enormous arms industry and military establishment which had grown from virtually nothing into a vast organisation with the potential for "the disastrous rise of misplaced power." America's military / industrial complex cannot thrive without enemies, real or imagined. With Korea relatively stable and peace breaking out in Afghanistan, Iran is an important enemy, justifying billions of dollars of defence spending. Trump may want to talk to them. But would he ever be allowed to?

JAKARTA, capital of Indonesia, is sinking and, as the ocean level rises, a new capital is being built on higher ground. If the climate-change forecasts come true, this rebuilding of entire coastal cities may become the norm in the 21st century. Naming these new cities may be a problem, as so many of them already begin with New. So the next 100 years may bring New New York, New New Orleans and New New Brunswick. And if the seas keep rising and the cities have to be built again, we may end up taking the ferry from New New Newhaven.