Criminally good

Criminal Justice (BBC1); Celebrity Masterchef (BBC1); Marco’s Great British Feast (Channel 4) 

Years ago I was ‘political consultant’ on State of Play, the successful BBC drama serial that got very substantial ratings. It launched several acting careers, being one of the few TV series that was also watched by the people who make films. About half my advice was ignored, to the delight of colleagues at Westminster who would ask how I managed to get something so spectacularly wrong. But the producers were right; dramatic effect is more important than nit-picking detail. And to be truly, nerve-shreddingly realistic, you have to ignore reality. Real life is usually rather dull; to be convincing as reality, realism is not enough.

So lots of people think that Criminal Justice (every weeknight, BBC1) goes way over the top. The police aren’t quite so bad as they are depicted here, the system nothing like so stacked, prison life nowhere near as hellish.