What to watch
Come Home BBC ONE, 9.00PM
Delivering another masterclass in vulnerable intensity, Christopher Eccleston stars in the latest series from Danny Brocklehurst. Much like his other dramas, such as Ordinary Lies and Exile, this one follows the writer’s habit of shifting perspective by the episode.
Greg Farrell (Eccleston) is still reeling from his separation from his wife Marie (Paula Malcomson) after 19 years of marriage. This leaves him running his garage business, managing the family home and raising their three children alone. Hapless dates ensue as he is caught between restarting his life and rekindling his moribund relationship with his wife. The children, meanwhile, are negotiating their own doubts and disappointments.
Powered by a enjoyably eclectic soundtrack, which veers from The Velvet Underground and Mel and Kim to the Cocteau Twins, Come Home is a funny, involving domestic drama that stays just the right side of farce (note Eccleston’s bold tilt at a Belfast accent). Crucially, there’s a melancholy underpinned by a faith in human nature that makes the flawed characters easy to root for, no matter how frustrating or apparently inexplicable their behaviour. Gabriel Tate