In a surprise attack, Columbo has been bombed by the Sri Lankan rebel group the Tamil Tigers.
Peter Falk, who plays the character, explained: "I was sitting in a New York restaurant in my mac. Then this van drives by full of a group of men wearing balaclavas. One of the men threw a bomb at me, but I managed to duck out of the way.
"One fragment of the bomb contained a clue to where they had assembled the device. I tracked down the driver from the registration number of the van, and I asked him about his van. He thought I didn't know anything, but then as I left, I turned round and said 'One more thing...' and he knew it was over."
It is thought the Tamil Tigers had originally planned to bomb the Sri Lankan capital, MacGyver.
