I made a friend of mine watch Hornblower so that (a) she could admire Archie and (b) because I wanted her to read the Mr Pipps stories for their sheer brilliance.

Heh. I actually had a male friend insist that I ought to watch his Hornblower DVDs. I'm very glad he did! I can't wait to see what the third series will be like.

(I do like the books, but my interest in them is lukewarm. I'm much more of a Patrick O'Brian fan.)