Talk of the Town: Jack puts Fern's viewers in picture

HIS drawings have become an internet hit and a fundraising success story, and it seems six-year-old Jack Henderson is now unstoppable.

The boy behind www.jackdrawsanything.com has already made a few TV appearances since he started raising funds for the Sick Kids Friends Foundation last month, and now he and his family are set to appear on Fern Britton's tea-time talk show, Fern, on Friday.

Jack has already raised 11,000 by selling his drawings, and has upped his target to 15,000. Seeing the total keep rising will help keep the fire in his felt.

Crime pays . . but not as much as TV station says

AS a best-selling author, it's a fair bet that Ian Rankin isn't short of a bob or two.

Even so, it seems suggestions that his fortune might run into the mega-millions are a little wide of the mark.

The Alibi Crime Writers Rich List suggested Rankin was worth 25 million, but following the reports the Rebus author took to Twitter to set matter straight, saying: "Dear BBC News, I am *not* 'worth 25million'. Some people from Alibi TV channel went to the pub and made stuff up."

The reason for his annoyance might be all the begging requests. "If I had a fiver (or tenner) for every time someone today has said 'lend me a fiver/tenner . . .'"

Sir Sean accent poles apart

AS the defecting Soviet sub captain in The Hunt for Red October, his Scottish brogue brought on the universal ire of critics reviewing the acclaimed thriller.

But it now appears Sean Connery may not have been too wide of the mark - after the Edinburgh actor revealed people used to think he was Polish.

In the latest in a series of interviews reflecting on his career, the 80-year-old, who played Captain Marko Ramius in the 1990 hit, revealed he used a tape machine "the size of a small fridge" to play back recordings to ensure he toned down his Scots accent - apparently perceived to be Eastern European by some in Hollywood - to make himself understood.

Christ and coffee

ONE of Edinburgh's many churches may be the more usual setting for a Bible study, but a city centre coffee shop will soon play host to a seven-week course on Christianity.

Eight city churches from several different denominations are combining to explore the Christian faith with family, friends and neighbours at the Costa coffee shop in Hanover Street from April 26.