can tuck something into a little corner of peak against Panorama and hope it grows an audience" have gone. 10 October Just over a year after returning to EastEnders, Sid Owen who plays Ricky Butcher in the soap, is to leave again, it is announced. ITV begins to air live coverage of the 2003 Rugby World Cup with the opening game, in which Australia played Argentina at Stadium Australia in Sydney. 15 October BBC One airs the 2000 horror thriller Cherry Falls, starring Brittany Murphy and Michael Biehn. BBC Two airs the documentary When Michael Portillo Became a Single Mum in which former Defence Secretary Michael Portillo assumes the mantle of Merseyside single mother Jenny Miner for a week. Plans are announced for the DVD release of Brookside: Unfinished Business, a film that will continue storylines from Channel 4's Brookside which ends on 4 November. The DVD will be released two weeks later. ITV1 airs the network premiere of the 2000 American romantic musical comedy-drama film Coyote Ugly. 18 October – The UK's top 21 favourite books are revealed by the BBC's The Big Read. Celebrity advocates will put their case for each of the books over the coming weeks before the winner is decided. 20 October – Cheryl Tweedy is found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after claiming self-defence during her trial, but cleared of racially aggravated assault. She is sentenced to 120 hours of community service and ordered to pay her victim £500 in compensation, as well as £3,000 prosecution costs. 22 October Longtime broadcaster on the BBC and ITN and latterly news anchor on Sky News, Bob Friend announces his retirement. ITV1 airs the network television premiere of X-Men. 29 October – BBC Two airs a special edition of TOTP2 featuring performances by Sheryl Crow which includes her new single The First Cut Is the Deepest. 30 October ITV1 screens a special live episode of The Bill to mark the show's 20th year on the air. The Broadcasting Standards Commission upholds 30 viewer complaints about comedian Jonathan Ross's use of the F-word during the live broadcast of Red Nose Day 2003. Although the word was used at 10:30pm, after the watershed, the Commission felt it was likely children would still be watching. November 3 November Andy Page wins the 2003 series of Mastermind. The Independent Television Commission rejects 21 viewer complaints about the first gay