Bradford is soon to have a chance to change Bill Bryson's mind about the city he once wrote off as being "palpably forlorn".

The American writer who blasted Bradford in his 1995 book Notes From a Small Island is coming back to take another look at the place and to record his opinion for the television cameras.

He will be in town in mid-December with a TV crew, making a film for The South Bank Show. And according to the programme's director, who has visited the city to sort out locations, he will be coming with an open mind.

"There are two main reasons for bringing Bill back to Bradford for this profile of him," explained Daniel Wiles, whose family are from Huddersfield. "He wanted to see what had changed since he was last here, and we wanted to give the city a chance to put its case after the savaging he gave it. I can't predict what his verdict will be. He could be very rude and nasty, or he could admit that he hadn't seen the best of the place on his 1994 visit.

"I suspect it will be the latter. I'm enjoying my visit very much. I think it's lovely here."

During his trip to Bradford on December 16, Bryson will meet the Lord Mayor, Councillor Stanley King, who said: "I'm quite excited about this forthcoming visit. I shall certainly be showing Mr Bryson Ivegate, with the gate at the bottom, plus Little Germany, City Hall and, of course, Centenary Square, which wasn't here when he came in 1994.

"I'm not going to try to talk him out of what he said, but to show him there are two sides to every coin."

Councillor King confessed that he thought Notes from a Small Island was a "brilliant book".

"I laughed until I cried," he said. "Even the attack on Bradford was done in a humorous way. It's a free country, after all. But I shall certainly be showing him he other side of the city."

This is not Bryson's first visit to Bradford since he turned up here in 1994 as part of a round-Britain expedition to gain material for his book, which went on to become a best-seller.

He was then living in the Dales with his family, but has since returned to the United States.

He made a flying visit to the city in 1997 for a personal appearance at Waterstone's bookshop, when he admitted: "I didn't write about Bradford with a light heart. I expected a lot of antagonistic letters, but all the mail I got was quite sad -- particularly from older people saying 'You were absolutely right - but you should have seen the way Bradford used to be' - which made me feel even worse."

The writer was in the area again in 1998, visiting Saltaire for the TV adaptation of Notes From a Small Island.

Bradford people held their breath when it was screened at the beginning of 1999, wondering if it would be a vehicle for another sideswipe at the city.

There was considerable relief among the people trying to improve the image of the city when all viewers saw was a respectful five-minute tour of the village, which Bryson described as "a model community, now a quiet suburb of Bradford".

Whether there will be the same sense of relief after The South Bank show has been broadcast early next year remains to be seen.