I ALREADY fret about how much television I watch, so it makes little sense that the husband and I have signed up to add a whole lot more of it to our lives.

The Luddite in me likes to keep a lid on the use of technology in our home – except, of course, when it enhances, rather than detracts or makes something we do any way considerably cheaper and much easier.

It was the Other Half who convinced me about this recent change. I was about to order the DVD of the US House of Cards remake when he pointed out that we’d get that series, and a lot more, if we simply took up the trial offer of a very popular company.

This company is one of the providers of on-demand films and TV streamed directly to your laptop, iPad or gaming system, and once you sign up, there are hundreds and hundreds of hours of entertainment right there for you to access at the mere sweep of a finger across a screen.

The first month is free, and there’s no pressure or obligation once that time is up. And I could have just binged myself over a few weeks and that would have been that.

But once you’ve seen what’s on there, it’s pretty hard to let it go. Its appeal was immediate and it seems such a bargain – £5.99 a month – that I have had an immediate Damascene conversion re this sort of service.

In addition to new content and multiple past seasons of acclaimed televisual dramas on there – Dexter, The Good Wife, Breaking Bad and so on – there are thousands of films, from every era and covering every genre.

It’s quite something to be able to immediately select and watch some of the greatest movies of all time with the bare minimum of fuss. You can even immediately skip to the sequences you love best within seconds.

What’s even better is that its appeal is not limited to one age group. There’s a special kids’ section, and I can see that both of my parents would get as much from it as we do, so I’m contemplating signing them up.

Dad would be drawn in by the old comedy shows which are on there in their entirety plus the docum-entaries, his favourite Sharpe episodes and all of the historical dramas. Mum would be in her element with the costume drama quotient, including the Colin Firth BBC Pride & Prejudice, and all of the romantic comedies.

I do know that too much TV is not good for a person – Roald Dahl taught me well – but measured injections of escapism? Well, surely there’s little harm in that.

PS: Good news – I am happy to inform regular readers that Mouse has been found. Thank you to those of you who got in touch to sympathise with our plight!