Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads

BBC1, 9pm & 9.35pm

From The Office to Sherlock, Martin Freeman has proven himself a versatile and adept star of comedy and primetime drama, but in A Chip In The Sugar he is sensational in the role first played by

Alan Bennett himself in 1988.

Graham (Freeman, right) nurses a secret private life and is rather too close to his mother. A vicious battle between the two is played out through Graham’s account in an enthralling monologue full of emotional twists and turns.

Then, The Outside Dog is a descent into darkness, starring Rochenda Sandall (Line Of Duty) as put-upon housewife Marjory. A litany of complaints about her husband Stuart and his dog segues into heart-pounding revelations, as Sandall gradually drops the mask that hides her pain in a performance of brilliantly controlled nuance.