Spooning is one of life's small wonders, a cheap and enjoyable activity one can indulge in while asleep or awake, which is eminently pleasurable and generally non-controversial.
It is also very, very comfortable and, with luck on a quiet Sunday, can lead to a good time for all involved.
Spooning is exactly the activity the rather racy pair of Masters and Johnson are taking part in as the third series of Masters of Sex begins.
That is no surprise, as the pair had been at it like rabbits in series one and two, and it is good to see them taking a quick rest as series three begins.
But life for Dr William Masters and Virginia Johnson - not to mention the shabbily treated Mrs Libby Master - has not become any simpler with the passing of time.
Masters of Sex is a dramatised, but based-on-truth account of Masters and Johnson's pioneering research into the nature of human sexual response, and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders, which the two researchers began in 1957.
The pair wrote the seminal works Human Sexual Response and Human Sexual Inadequacy, in 1966 and 1970, respectively.
Before the pair get out of bed in episode one, which begins on Sky's SoHo channel on July 19, they are back at it, though continuing with the low levels of romantic chit-chat.
Their sexual relationship, despite resulting in their marriage in 1971, was used as clinical work for their study.
While getting down to it, they begin discussing plans for caterers and photographers for the upcoming press conference to go with the release of their study.
They end up facing the press in an episode set in 1966, that also regularly flashes back to a summer vacation the year before, where Virginia faces parenting struggles, Bill is finishing work on their book and Libby is taking Serapax.
Dr Masters is refusing to sleep with Libby, and generally being a poor husband and father.
Virginia, meanwhile, is put in the slightly embarrassing position of being a confidante for Mrs Masters, despite her extra-curricular activities with her husband.
Masters of Sex is a very good show, and episode one sets up the series for some challenging storylines, and ends with a startling announcement in the lady's toilets.
The show was also sent to me by email, and played directly from my smart-phone through Chromecast.
This device plugs into your television and screens content played on a phone in high definition on your big-screen television.
It's brilliant, by the way, and, I'm pretty sure, the future.
- Charles Loughrey
