Roadkill BBC1, 9pm

It’s no secret that Sir David Hare holds left-leaning views, but his considerable gifts as a dramatist enable him to create fully fleshed-out characters from very different parts of the political spectrum.

His new four-part drama is told from the point of view of a Tory minister, Peter Laurence (Hugh Laurie, right), who is deeply flawed but still engages our sympathies – when he has not outraged our moral sensibilities. Self-made Laurence is hugely ambitious, but his hopes of being given a top job by the Prime Minister (a commanding Helen McCrory) are threatened by a toxic mix of private scandal and financial misdeeds that have the potential to destroy him.

Hare gives us a far-reaching snapshot of the state of the nation as Laurence struggles to survive. See the whole series on iPlayer after episode one.