Peter Rhodes on killing hares, Mr Sulu's day out and the amazing Oracle of Dominic

The economic recovery thunders ahead. A reader tells me he's got a job in a toy factory making plastic Draculas. As there are only two on his production line, he has to make every second count.

And now, a brief pause for the above to sink in. It took me a while. . . .

Springwatch (BBC1) finds itself under attack in the Guardian for failing to address really big threats to the environment, such as HS2. Maybe it's unfair to expect Chris Packham and his crew, all distinguished naturalists, to get tangled up in the politics of white-elephant railways.

But the show does deserve a ticking-off for not only celebrating the large numbers of hares seen at the Springwatch base, but also informing millions of viewers where they are. Hare coursing is a bloody, violent blight on country life. The last thing the coursers need is help in locating any more of these beautiful creatures.

More reflections on William Shatner's visit to Alton Towers in 1987. While it was Shatner who delivered the Star Trek glamour, most of the drama on that memorable day was provided by his Enterprise crewmate Mr Sulu, played by George Takei, who was supposed to share the task of officially opening the theme park's new monorail.

Takei apparently turned up at Los Angeles Airport with an expired passport, flew into Heathrow instead of Gatwick and arrived at the park an hour late when his helicopter ran into fog, missing the opening ceremony. And this man was trusted with USS Enterprise's beaming-up machine.

I suppose we'd all have been more impressed with Tim Parker resigning as chairman of the National Trust had we not discovered that it's an unpaid job. Even so, to depart at a time when one's “woke” agenda on linking NT properties to slavery is opposed by many members is a principled move. Quitting takes guts.

Pulling down statues is all very well but if you discover that the charity you are leading, or the college you are attending, or the university where you are employed, grew rich on donations from slave-owners, imperialists and colonials, surely the honourable course of action is to apologise for benefiting (if only in a small way) from past evils, clear your desk and walk away.

What a heroic, selfless deed that would be. No, I can't see it catching on.

Dominic Cummings would have made a perfect soothsayer or oracle in the legends of ancient Greece. As we have seen since his performance last week, the Oracle of Dominic possesses a unique quality. If Dominic speaks words you do not wish to hear (trip to Barnard Castle, etc), then he is a wicked and premeditated liar.

But if the Oracle of Dominic speaks words you are delighted to hear (Boris totally unfit for office, etc), then he is the font of all wisdom, truth and honesty. Miraculous.