Mark Daniels: Pubs represent better value than you think...

It's been a strange week: snow brought Britain to a standstill and silenced the Global Warmists, at least for a few minutes; a couple of BBC employees said what they were really thinking and got in to trouble for it; the usual drivel about the state of the economy dominated the headlines. And then there was some more snow meaning that the staff, what little we have these days, couldn't make it in to work.

And one or two people mentioned to me that in the current economic crisis, supermarkets were the way forward for drinkers.

They probably have a point, but I've started looking at things a little differently. Take, for example, the case of Mr X, who made a comment that his bill of £50 just before he left the pub was a little steep... I shrugged the criticism off and pointed out that he had actually been in the pub for over six hours, and his wife had been with him too. And he'd had a small snack during that time. His bill even comprised of a few drinks for some of the people at the bar with him.

He'd even managed to win one of his rounds (admittedly just two drinks) back off me in a game we now play every Friday night.

To me, that didn't represent bad value for a night's entertainment. And quite a bit of entertainment he had had. The pub had been busy, people had been in a good mood, there'd even been some singing. Where else can you go and get that sort of entertainment, for more than six hours, for just fifty quid? It equated to just £25 a head for him and his missus. Or less than £8.33 an hour...

I had a look around and couldn't find anything that matched it, short of staying at home and watching Sky TV for a month. Two tickets for Mamma Mia! at The Prince of Wales Theatre in London will set you back seventy pounds, and that's for the cheap tickets. That's for two hours and forty five minutes of entertainment, but doesn't include your transport, drinks at the bar or any meal you might have on your night out too.

Go and see Slumdog Millionaire, the film of the moment, at the Cambridge Cineworld and that will, admittedly, cost you just just £14.20 for 120 minutes of entertainment for two people. But have you seen how much they charge for popcorn and a large coke? If you think pubs are expensive... And, if you're on a date, the chances are a meal afterwards will cost you upwards of fifty notes.

The cheapest tickets for Middlesbrough v Wigan on the 21st February that I've found are £71.50 each. £143 for two people to sit and watch a bit of pigskin being kicked from one side of the pitch to the other. In the interests of parity, it'll cost you at least £250 for two people to go and watch this year's Silverstone Formula One Grand Prix which, although a day's worth of entertainment, is still only 90 minutes for the bit people actually go along to see.

Fifteen minutes of driving a go-kart round and round in circles will cost you at least fifteen pounds. £1.00 a minute.

When you look at it that way, cheap supermarket booze and a night in front of Eastenders is probably quite appealing.

But fifty quid, for two people, for an entire night out. That, to me, shows that pubs still represent great value. We should shout about that a little bit more...

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For ten years, Formula One fans have had to put up with the commercial requirements of ITV's funding frequently interrupting the sport. On uncountable occasions, the channel cut to advertisement breaks at the wrong moment, only for us to return to the broadcast a few minutes later to discover that a driver had crashed, or the greatest manoeuvre of the year had taken place. On one occasion, they even cut to the adverts just three laps before the end of the race, meaning that an embarrassed Jim Rosenthal had to welcome us back from the commercials after the race had actually finished.

I couldn't help but smile to myself on Wednesday, then, when ITV cut to an ad break just two minutes before the end of Extra Time in the Liverpool/Everton match. The winning goal had been missed and fans had been disappointed. It's a feeling Formula One fans are very familiar with.

Politically incorrect gaffs aside, therefore, I'm grateful it's returning to the BBC this year. ITV can keep the footie...