WE’VE all been there – you’re sitting in the pub with some mates discussing how few of the people in I’m a Celebrity you’ve actually heard of when the conversation dries up and everyone eyes their pints awkwardly.

And then one bright spark chimes in with that stalwart of terrible pub conversations –“Children’s telly isn’t half as good as it was when we were kids.”

There are two big problems with this.

One, it’s a terrible topic of conversation that just leads to people bellowing 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!' as if they’re suffering from some bizarre form of Tourette’s.

Secondly, it’s just not true.

It’s easy to look back on the television you enjoyed as a child fondly, but in the cold light of day the vast majority of it was, frankly, utter rubbish.

In the odd fit of boredom I have found myself looking up programmes of my youth on YouTube, and every single time I’m shocked by just how shoddy they looked.

If you’re around my age you probably have very fond memories of Thundercats.

Aside from it being one of the more bizarre concepts for a cartoon – a team of cat-like aliens battle an evil sorcerer who is also a mummy for some reason – it always seemed like one of the most futuristic and exciting things on TV.

But go back and watch it and it quickly becomes apparent just how poor it was.

And the less said about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the better.

But is today’s children’s television any better? While I’m far from an expert, I am at that thrilling stage of life when a large amount of my social time is based around going to friend’s houses and looking at babies and, as a result, I am at least somewhat familiar with what the kids are into these days.

Honestly, it all seems to be a good deal better. There’s always going to be a few stinkers – Rastamouse, anyone? – but in general it all seems to be of a much higher quality these days.

So next time one of your mates insists He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was the zenith of children’s entertainment, point them to YouTube and watch their face drop.

Now put CBeebies on, I want to see what Peppa Pig’s up to.