Holy Cows on Telegraph TV

Furniture designer and former investment banker Sameh El-Shahat might well have borrowed the idea for Holy Cows from David Baddiel's Radio 4 show Heresy. The premise is remarkably similar. Each week on Telegraph TV El-Shahat challenges conventional wisdom around the stories making the news. Thus far he has looked at the rising price of petrol, the Church of England, carbon offsetting, immigration and organic food. El-Shahat is a relaxed and engaging presence, with his stylised dégagé hair and hipster cool, although he can come across as being a little too pleased with himself.

The videos are around five minutes in length and consist of a series of interviews and to-camera pieces as El-Shahat breezes through his theme. Each video is accompanied by an article covering the main points. The Telegraph describes the videos as ‘hard hitting' but that is a wild bit of Orwellian advertising. The videos are not at all shocking. They are not even that provocative. There is nothing here we haven't heard before. However, El-Shahat has far more vim and verve than Al Gore and Holy Cows is well worth a few minutes of your time each week.