"Inspector Montalbano" (UK TV BBC4, Saturday evenings) is a must for me and, if I'm out gigging on a Saturday night, then I watch it on the iPlayer the net day.

But - is there anyone other than Montalbano and a few other people in the whole of Sicily? He walks down a street - nobody there, no cars, no people. Walks along a beautiful beach - nobody there, apart from him and the odd corpse. Same old faces in the police station -Fazio, Augello, Catarello, Galluzo. Along comes the sexy Ingrid to tease him... phone calls with Livia in Genoa - but no people in the streets except at a funeral. Does no one go shopping? All the places in Italy I've been to have been buzzing with life, apart from the two hours at midday when everyone's eating in the shade.

I'm guessing they keep the streets cordoned off while they film so as not to get staring locals - or perhaps they can't afford the bevy of extras you get in street scenes in English or American productions. Even the helicopter shots of the towns in the credits show very few people. Where have they all gone?