Horizon: Tim Peake Special – How to Be an Astronaut review: a lesson in feeling inadequate

Major Tim Peake is Britain's first European Space Agency astronaut and has all the qualities of a modern-day hero

Suddenly I feel inadequate, as a human being, as a father. In many ways, I have a lot in common with Tim Peake. We're both fine physical specimens, at the peak of health and fitness. Brilliant at what we do, but modest, we're also family men, great dads with a couple of small boys each. We've even both got a Thomas.

So, Thomas, what does your daddy do? Well, sometimes he goes to a boring office, but mostly he just sits on the sofa watching TV. And other Thomas? My daddy's an astronaut, he trains in the United States and Russia, and on Tuesday he's going in a rocket, to space.