We make our decisions based on how we feel, what we believe in politically. They have one overriding value: the bottom line.”Had Rupert Murdoch asked him to prove that TV Nation’s 15 million weekly viewers weren’t a fluke, though, he’d have jumped at the chance to go back to Fox. Hang on a minute: the people’s champion cosying up with one of the world’s biggest media moguls? He may not be back on Fox but he’s signed a book deal with HarperCollins. “Even though Murdoch and I may disagree politically in terms of the issues, at his heart he’s a populist. In Britain, meanwhile, the BBC (who had previously nabbed TV Nation) and Channel 4 went toe-to-toe for the rights to broadcast The Awful Truth.The irony is not lost on Moore. Since then, Bravo, a cable channel reaching just a million homes, has proved the only channel gutsy enough to pick up his latest series.

His last series, TV Nation, took up where Roger & Me had left off, irreverently wrenching stories from the stern grip of the hard-news media. In its ever-popular Corporate Executive Challenge, for instance, CEOs were called upon to carry out the most basic relevant task: for example, could the head of IBM format a floppy disk?In 1995, Fox TV canned the Emmy award-winning show in America after just two seasons. That’s somebody you guys know better than Americans do.”Moore, too, knows what it’s like to be a satirist without honour in your own land. It was a David’s-eye view of corporate Goliaths, as hilarious as it was incensed.(If anyone doubts Moore’s influence, take a look at Mark Thomas’s Comedy Product which follows The Awful Truth tonight.)
“All the best comedy is always borne out of serious anger at the social and human condition,” notes Moore, tracing a genealogy of America’s angriest comics: Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy And the late Bill Hicks? “Oh, definitely Bill Hicks. Roger & Me followed the former editor of the Michigan Voice in his pursuit of an explanation from Roger Smith, the chairman of GM. “I really think that humour can be an incredibly effective weapon to combat things that we think are wrong,” he says.

The same belief led to Moore’s breakthrough film 10 years ago. In the late-Eighties, General Motors initiated a devastating series of plant closures in Moore’s birthplace, the one-company town of Flint, Michigan. When the insurers refuse to back down, Moore and the claimant turn up at their headquarters and stage a rehearsal of his imminent funeral. Within a week the insurers lose their corporate bottle and capitulate. It’s never enough for Michael Moore simply to fight the underdog’s corner; the 43-year-old television satirist likes to run circles round the opposition.

In the first show of his new Channel 4 series, The Awful Truth, the softly-spoken Moore champions a diabetes sufferer whose medical insurers have denied him the funds to go ahead with a life-or-death pancreas transplant. Argyll knits, masculine trouser suits and tulip-shaped shift dresses were particularly appealing, put together in that very English way that Smith understands well; models looked like kooky aristocrats strolling round the Basil Street Hotel.Tanya Sarne’s Ghost label continues to go from strength to strength. The collection, inspired, as last season, by Victoriana, looked less overtly pretty and more modern, without ever losing the signature style known and loved by women the world over.Finally, the Japanese designer Kosuke Tsumura continues to honour us with his presence – it was great to see his soft-shouldered silhouette.. Also a first was a pretty new neckline: a wide funnel that stood away from the skin, giving the illusion of slenderness and length.Paul Smith, showing his womenswear in London for only the third time, is looking increasingly confident. Farhi’s emerald velvet was especially desirable – velvet also cropped up on the catwalks of Elspeth Gibson and Clements Ribeiro – and Jackson’s subdued but lovely colour palette (sage green, smoky blue, deep red and dusty rose), subtle textures and fluid silhouette were good to see.Jasper Conran’s collection was more minimal that it has been – very cool in soft leather, matt jersey and heavy satin.

Nicole Farhi and Betty Jackson both sent out easy, relaxed clothes in super-soft fabrics that looked a pleasure to wear. Here, as on other runways, burnt orange reigned supreme.While our younger designers continue to attract the most attention, other more established names remain a force to be reckoned with. Crochet knits, applique, multi-tiered frills and bold prints were all suitably upbeat, complementing perfectly a largely pared-down silhouette. Joe Casely-Hayford turned out soft shapes in pretty colours, with a raw edge that looked very of-the-moment; dresses and skirts with the texture of teddy bears were adorable.Sonja Nuttall, another great hope for the future, went down the arts- and-crafts route that is emerging as one of next autumn/ winter’s major trends. Devore sheath dresses were lovely, as was black tulle appliqued with gold roses and worn over white, paying more than lip-service to the vintage good looks beloved of London girls, but with a modern feel.The knitwear supremo Julien Macdonald held back from turning women into the proverbial Christmas tree this season, and the result was good to see. As a colourist he is unrivalled in London, and his hot pinks and reds contrasting with more neutral hues won’t disappoint. It’s all very west London; the requisite pashmina, for example, was here transformed into a skirt.Clements Ribeiro, too, will attract this type of customer, although the clothes are more complex Tailoring looked super-chic: low-slung but still sharp.