Even though last year’s ‘barbecue summer’ was less spectacular than expected, there were at least plenty of butterflies around. This summer, though, has been noticeable for their absence. We should consider ourselves fortunate, then, that, early on Wednesday evening, a red admiral chose our wildflower patch (or, more precisely, a concrete fence post next to it) as a suitable spot to take a break from its flying and fluttering. Can’t blame it, really: most butterflies weigh next to nothing, but still they manage to migrate all the way from the Mediterranean, so if one of them wants to flop out on our fence post for a while, I say good luck to it.

A different kind of ‘red’ admiral (i.e., a Russian submariner) turned up this week in episode two of five-part BBC serial The Deep. Like that infamous barbecue summer, however, this series also seems to be something of a damp squib. Can we steel ourselves for three more episodes, or would half an hour’s waterboarding perhaps be less excruciating?