There is a belief that Senna regarded her as the latest decoration

There is a belief that Senna regarded her as the latest decoration.Senna may not have been happy at Imola, but then, according to a friend, he confided on the Friday evening, less than 48 hours before he died, that he had never known happiness.Senna had been to see his boss, Frank Williams, a quadriplegic, who was strapped in an upright harness. The driver asked him how he was and Williams cheerfully replied that he was fine. Much of what we have had, quite frankly, has been ghoulish gobbledygook.Suggestions by some that the Brazilian had a premonition of death have been dismissed by others closer to him as nonsense. Doubts have also been cast over his supposed admission of foreboding to his girlfriend the night before the accident, particularly since doubts have been cast over the strength of their relationship. The official investigation into his death blamed steering column failure, but the report is still being considered by an Italian magistrate.The delays have meant that over the past year we have been treated to a variety of theories about the accident - some merely mechanical and technical, but others psychological and emotional. Yet even the statistics do not adequately gauge the Senna phenomenon. He wore all the clichd mantles: he was moody; he was the ice man; he was hot-headed; he was mercurial; and he was charismatic.The perception of Senna as supernatural, immortal, created the demand for inquiries and recriminations.

Here was a man who had won the World Championship three times, 41 grands prix and a record 65 pole positions, almost twice as many as the next best. It was tragic, but it was deemed to be an accident, a hazard of the job.Senna, however, was exceptional. Twenty four hours before Senna's crash, on May 1, Ratzenberger, an unexceptional Austrian driver, died in practice for the race. Chicanes have been put in to neutralise the perils of Tamburello and Villeneuve, and about three-fifths of the track has been modified to improve safety standards. Indeed, the changes are so extensive that this year the drivers are being given an extra day to familiarise themselves with the track before Sunday's race. The memory of Senna will pervade the whole weekend, even though he was not the only driver to die here 12 months ago.

Twelve months on, Formula One today returns to Imola, reviving the mental torment of that fateful San Marino Grand Prix. The drastically revised circuit, notably at the two sections where Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger were killed last season, serves as the sport's tangible memorial to the two drivers. Excellent, I thought, readying myself for the decisive clarity of mind I have come to expect of our readers He did not disappoint: "It's crap," he said.. The camera swung to the other side of the carriage to solicit the views of a driver who had the Independent folded on his table. At one point, Johnston's film showed several extremely beefy men prodding disgustedly at a doll's house version of a lay-by fry- up. But while the fierce competition generates Force 9 bluster on both sides, there weren't quite enough of such moments to prevent the film from feeling like a business documentary about marketing methods.Whatever they do, Eurotunnel will have to improve the meals they give to lorry drivers.

Graham Johnston's subject was the rivalry between the ferry operators, P&O in this case, and Eurotunnel. This looked promising, particularly during the sequence in which P&O managers perched on a hilltop above Folkestone with binoculars, spying on their rivals traffic. "John Bull's a bad neighbour but Bonaparte's a bully and so are you," says Wellington's master spy to a sneering turncoat, before punctuating his sentence with a highly satisfying "Biff!'' and "Kapow!".Sharpe would take a dim view of the Channel Tunnel, I warrant, the subject of a slightly inconsequential film for the Modern Times (BBC2) series. But no amount of research can conceal the fact that this is, at heart, a war comic. It may be touched here and there with contemporary pieties - Sharpe unconvincingly mutters about "the madness that is this war" - but the mood is best summed up by the speech bubbles that emerge at moments of tension. In one line of dialogue, a soldier shyly offered Sharpe brown paper and paraffin oil - "For your wounds", he added, as though he thought the Major might otherwise try to make a sandwich out of them. No nonsense about fishery deals and the Social Chapter - just buckshot and cold steel. The series prides itself on its veracity I imagine - probably has to, given the mad energies of all those people with Napoleonic battle dioramas in their attics.

But this concern with local detail can look odd at times, particularly when it is arcane enough to require explanation. Cue a reckless assault on the French fort, redcoats ambling senselessly towards the guns, and a duel to the death Marvellous. It isn't long before the filthy Frog has scarpered, breaking the terms of the gentleman's agreement. If your opponent shouts "parole", then it simply isn't sporting to ignore it. "Bad form, old man," says Sharpe's commanding officer, catching him as he is about to run through a devious Frenchy spy who has just surrendered Sharpe is right, of course, as his name promises.