AS the new Greek gods took leave of the Olympic stadium during the Bank Holiday weekend, along came the third reincarnation of 'Messiah'.

There were iconic memories aplenty from the Athens Games. Among my favourites were Kelly Holmes crossing the line for her gold medals in the 800 and 1,500 metres; boxing baby Amir Khan proving that if you're good enough, you're old enough as he won silver at the age of 17; Matthew Pinsent letting the tears flow on the medal podium; the exhibition of spectator power in support of the Russian gymnast whose marks were an insult to his awesome performance on the high bar, and our 4x100m relay boys beating the American sprint stars to the finishing line.

For every highlight, however, there was a low point. These included the Greek sprinters' missed drugs test/motorbike accident debacle; the Greek crowd delaying the start of the men's 200m final with a crescendo of booing and barracking in support of the disgraced Kenteris; the attack on the leader in the men's marathon that may have cost him the gold medal and the BBC's preoccupation with the so-called 'tragedy' of 'heroic, brave' Paula Radcliffe, while hardly acknowledging the fact that two other British athletes ran through the pain barrier to finish in lowly positions in the same marathon. I would have had some sympathy for Paula if she had pulled out while in a medal position, but to do it as soon as she slipped into fourth place was suspicious to say the least.

The closing ceremony also threw up some tedious interludes. Watching a group of people battling to make their voices heard above a firework display - and singing in Greek, to boot - was not my idea of an entertaining Sunday night's viewing. Even the athletes surrounding the stage seemed more intent on creating their own amusement, running around with their national flags and phoning home on their mobiles. Now there's one invention that Pheidippides would have welcomed to save him running the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens!

Back in the world of TV thrillers, Monday saw the welcome return of Ken Stott as Red Metcalfe in 'Messiah' (BBC1). This two-parter was in the same gritty vein as the previous two 'Messiah' tales - not for the squeamish but as powerful a drama as you will see on television these days.

There were gruesome moments by the bucketload, including one man being murdered in an MRI scanner and another dying as his post mortem was about to be carried out (he had been paralysed by poison).

Apart from anything else, it was nice to watch a crime thriller that wasn't a repeat (after endless re-runs of 'Midsomer Murders' and 'A Touch of Frost') and where you didn't know whodunit before the title sequence was finished!

SOAP POSER:

JUST what we all needed the night before returning to work after the Bank Holiday - another 'upbeat' episode of EastEnders with Dot telling Jim she has cancer and Den taking a taxi out of the square after yet another raging row with Chrissie. Thank goodness for the humour of Corrie on either side of this miseryfest!