I'll say it again - I'm just sick of TV repeats

I've returned home to find that, as I randomly cruise the choppy seas of the growing array of weird and wonderful channels, the word 'NEW' has started popping up as a preface to a trickle of programmes.

It's as if the broadcasters have had some kind of Eureka moment in their summer sundown brainstorming session, dreamed up a radical new idea, and now can't stop themselves shouting it from the rooftops. "Hey, look at us, we've made a new programme. Let's tell the viewers that this is one they've actually never seen before."

But, far from enriching the lives of the armchair viewer – which I'm sure was the perfectly well-meaning and helpful intention – it is having quite the opposite effect. It's irritating, and also quite eye opening.

Because the logical presumption we now reach is that anything which doesn't carry the word NEW, should have the invisible word OLD placed in front of it instead. And you then start to realise just how many sloppy seconds we're actually being force-fed.

At least some channels have the good grace to attempt to cover up the embarrassing overload of already-runs by branding them 'catch-up' episodes, as if they're doing us a big favour.

Repeats . . . repeats . . . repeats. Forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but even as we get our teeth into the much vaunted autumn schedule, when the moguls allegedly bring out their biggest hitters, playing 'spot the interesting new show' isn't exactly providing us with rich pickings right now.

Particularly if you're not a big fan of the sort of big budget US imports flooding onto Sky's glossy channels.

Take last night, for example. NEW shows included Doctor Who: Greatest Monsters and Villains. OK, fair enough, it's a big year for the world's most celebrated and enduring time traveller.

But when you strip down this particular sonic screwdriver, you find that it's just a mish-mash of repeated highlights from the cult series.

Then there was NEW Paul McCartney in concert. Now forgive me, I know the Beatles are musical deity, but there's nothing remotely fresh or unique about Macca plonking away at the piano and churning out Hey Jude with his usual tuning problems . . . even if he has got a new single to plug.

And I'm not knocking BBC Children In Need – I entered into the spirit myself last year and raised over £500 by watching all the James Bond films back-to-back in one sitting (yes, yes, I know they were repeats) – but even the line-up for its latest live marathon had the feeling of 'been there, done that'. Gary Barlow and a do-gooding choir, EastEnders characters showing off their song and dance, erm, talents, and a soupcon of Strictly Come Dancing featuring stars who presumably either lacked the bottle to sign up for the full experience . . . or didn't make it onto the A list.

And so, we turn our viewing attentions Down Under. I'm not just talking about the new series of I'm A Celebrity, which offer the customary mix of morbid fascination – a new Ashes cricket series also kicks off on Thursday.

Even this highlight of the calendar carries the stench of an untimely repeat, with less than three months of water under the bridge since we last locked horns with the Aussies. Let's hope, in this particular case, it does turn out to be a re-run of the summer action.