Dermot's right about The X Factor – and it's not the only show that should take a break

If ever there was proof of Dermot O’Leary’s consummate professionalism, it’s this. Asked for his thoughts on The X Factor’s ailing fortunes, O’Leary recently suggested that the show might benefit from a brief hiatus.

That’s it. He didn’t fall about laughing at the state of The X Factor, nor did he insult anyone specific. He didn’t point out that a monkey in a Biggles cap could read an autocue better than Olly Murs, nor did he start hopping around the room making pig noises with his bum out in a luckless bid to demonstrate The X Factor’s general creative downturn. This is because O’Leary knows restraint. Truly, he is better than us.

Also, it’s a good suggestion. A fallow year would be perfect for The X Factor. The churn of making the show – which, from first audition to final performance, takes up most of the year – has left viewers and participants hollow-eyed and sullen. A year off would allow everyone to recharge, and give the show the opportunity to figure out what it wants to be again. Plus – and this is a long shot, I know – it might actually make us miss The X Factor.

And it’s not just The X Factor. Television is brimming with shows that are crying out for a hiatus. So many shows have lost their way, or dug themselves into a deep rut, that a year off seems like the only sensible option. So, if The X Factor takes O’Leary’s suggestion, these shows deserve to be next in line.

Dragons’ Den

Whatever problems The X Factor has, Dragons’ Den shares them precisely. It’s been around too long. Every episode is identical. A malaise has set in, and no amount of peripheral tinkering can save it. Perhaps a year off would help producers to build a stockpile of truly bad business ventures. At the very least, it might give everyone involved the chance to reflect on what their relentlessly aspirational greed has done to society at large. Maybe they could even have a little cry about it.

I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here

Once again, this is an issue of stockpiling. A hiatus would help to build a stockpile of celebrities, meaning that viewers might actually start a series recognising more than 20% of them. It would give producers time to build a stockpile of newer and more imaginative challenges. And, most importantly, given that there can barely be an animal left in the entire Australian rainforest that hasn’t already had its arse eaten off by someone from bloody TOWIE, it would help to build a stockpile of wildlife.

Come Dine With Me

This is only because I am concerned about Dave Lamb’s health. Gradually, over the years, Lamb’s narration has become increasingly sarcastic and shrill. Lately, he appears to have entered a nightmarish event horizon of derision. He’s a man trapped in a prison of his own mock-scorn. As a result, he is now only able to communicate in a barely audible series of clicks and whistles, having deemed all of human language insufficient for his blazing sass. A year off would be a chance for Lamb’s voice to reset before any of his internal organs begin to vibrate and pop.

A Question of Sport

There is nothing as singularly abrasive on British television as any recent episode of A Question of Sport. The whole thing is a nightmare hill-climb of uniformly mirthless banter. Look at Phil Tufnell’s face. His mouth is locked into a rictus grin, but his eyes are sad. They’re so sad. Keep a camera on him long enough and he’ll begin to blink out desperate requests for sanctuary in morse code. The Rugby One is no better, having long since assumed the default personality of a Wetherspoons regular aggressively trying to paper over a recent bereavement with an exhausting barrage of overcompensatory badinage. It is as exhausting as it is upsetting to witness. If nothing else, a year off would give Tufnell and The Rugby One an opportunity to run far, far away and never return.