INSIDE NO 9

Mike Leigh has always been a major influence on Pemberton and Shearsmith, but never more explicitly than in this quietly devastating episode. It takes its cues, not from the bleakly comic Leigh of Abigail’s Party or Nuts in May, but from the likes of Secrets and Lies; a sad, intimate domestic drama with an aching human heart. The naturalistic performances also owe a debt to Shane Meadows. It takes place over the Christmas period in a working-class family kitchen, their story gradually revealed in non-linear form. Don’t expect many laughs; this is the endlessly flexible Inside No 9 in serious mode, but it never feels like a self-conscious experiment. It’s compassionate, genuine, one of their best.

PRISON

Monday, Channel 4, 9pm

This observational documentary series unfolds in a progressive British prison where more than 300 women are incarcerated. It begins with new inmates arriving at the facility, many of them unused to serving time. They’re greeted by old hands offering friendly advice on how to survive a hectic environment. But Porridge it ain’t. We also meet sanguine prison officers who open up about their responsibilities: “You can be everything from an auntie, a social worker, probation worker to an officer in here. Everything at once.” Prison is sad yet sometimes funny, but it doesn’t tut, sneer, simplify or sentimentalise; it seeks to understand what life is actually like for vulnerable people who find themselves in a claustrophobic situation fraught with complications on a daily basis.

CILLA: THE LOST TAPES

Wednesday, STV, 9pm

When ‘Our Cilla’ passed away in 2015, Britain mourned the loss of someone who’d been part of our lives for decades. Two years later, her family unearthed a wealth of home movie footage. This programme dusts it down for public consumption in the company of celebrity friends such as Cliff Richard and Paul O’grady. Assisted by audio recordings of a reflective Cilla in conversation with her ghost writer, narrator Sheridan Smith (star of ITV’S excellent Cilla) respectfully delves into the life and career of a sometimes difficult yet charismatic entertainer. Highlights include Cilla skiing with George Martin, Cilla hanging out with Ringo (who once proposed to her) and Basil Brush (who didn’t), and Cilla giving a Black Power salute (?!).

Clockwise from main: David Baddiel looks at Holocaust denial, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith step Inside No 9 again, a Prison inmate, and Scouse songstress Cilla Black. Monday, BBC Two, 10pm