David Threlfall

In the 10th series of the Manchester-set comedy-drama, Frank has fallen foul of guidelines, meaning he is no longer deemed unfit to work. He must get a job. Cue hefty use of dream sequence as a distraction from the endless repetition. The sight of David Threlfall capering about in a Jesus wig spouting Paul Abbot's finest lines used to be invigorating, but now it feels like a joyless court jester hitting you on the head with a bladder over and over again. Episode two is tomorrow if you can be bothered.

Crack open a cold one because The Gallaghers are back for Shameless's tenth series this week, and in one of the most shocking plot developments in TV history Frank (David Threlfall) has only gone and found himself a job!

Unsurprisingly, the nation's favourite lout isn't overly enthused with serving up fast food after ten years out of the workforce and becomes plagued with horrifying nightmares. Will he still be flipping burgers when episode two airs on Thursday? Elsewhere in the premiere, Shane (Nicky Evans) and Jackson (Emmanuel Ighodaro) run into issues with their bootlegging business and Patty (Valerie Lilley) does a spot of pill swiping.

Times certainly are a-changing on the Chatsworth estate as Shameless embarks on a ninth season. Committed derelict Frank Gallagher's (David Threlfall) reaction to being told he must wear spectacles borders on the Nietzschean: "If I am weak, I will not survive." It's a response echoed in the activity that suddenly takes hold of the estate when the closest thing to Armageddon (a coordinated government crackdown on benefit fraud) threatens everyone with eviction and worse... the prospect of having to fend for themselves. Continues Tuesday.

The comedy drama celebrates its 100th episode tonight. It's become standard to say Chatsworth Estate isn't the place it used to be. Its survival however is down to outlandish but inventive storylines and crackpot characters that compel. Creator Paul Abbott pens this birthday outing. Elderly barmaid Cynthia (Beatrice Kelley) strikes gold on a scratch card and is promptly assaulted. Evidence points to Frank (David Threlfall) who looks set for a spell inside. Things look up when Kev (Dean Lennox Kelly) returns to take charge.

Seven years after the Chatsworth Estate became a byword for the skanky English underclass, Shameless notches up its 100th episode, written by Paul Abbott.

It's a 90-minute saga that sees Frank Gallagher (David Threlfall) banged up and demonised by his neighbours for a terrible crime he didn't commit.

Or at least he's pretty sure that he didn't: his memory of what actually happened on the night in question is, as ever, a bit on the hazy side.

With Abbott at the controls, Shameless's uniquely picturesque dialogue ­practically qualifies as a regional dialect in its own right - shot through with lashings of swearing, of course, as well as colourful metaphors, in jokes, shorthand and slang that you only half understand, plus some hilariously unlikely insults: "You ginger- haired hanging basket," being one of the few that's actually fit to print.

With his dad in the frame, it's left to Carl Gallagher (Elliott Tittensor) to man up and try to seize control of the situation. But he's going to need some help. His old neighbour Kev (Dean Lennox Kelly) fits in like he's never been away.

The half million or so viewers currently enjoying Shameless US get the chance to compare it with the original, and frankly better, version of Paul Abbott's rip-roaring drama. There's delight to be had watching nascent stars Anne-Marie Duff and James McAvoy blossom in their roles of proud matriarch Fiona Gallagher and her car-stealing suitor, Steve. Their cat-and-mouse romancing is instantly believable - perhaps because it was real; Duff and McAvoy married shortly after leaving the series. While we can praise the youngsters, there is only really one star of the show. David Threlfall's Frank Gallagher is a shambling whirlwind of a character; a barely coherent pub philosopher, you almost catch the reek of stale beer, smoke, vomit and urine each time he stumbles on screen. Which is a good thing, by the way.

As the US remake invades our screens, here's a chance to celebrate the more wild, more energetic, and ultimately superior original. Watch real-life lovebirds Anne-Marie Duff and James McAvoy dance a merry dance as Gallagher family linchpin Fiona and her car-nicking boyfriend Steve, and revel in David Threlfall's career-defining turn as drunken philosopher Frank, to which, as yet, Willam H Macy hasn't been able to hold a candle.

The eighth series of Paul Abbott's council-estate drama gathers a little momentum with this second episode. Frank (David Threlfall) is still Awol after his hedonistic stag party, as it turns out with good reason: he appears to have fallen, via his stag misadventure, into a parallel dimension. Back in the real world, Libby (Pauline McLynn) is unhappy with Monica (Annabelle Apsion) for demanding custody of Liam (Johnny Bennett) and baby Stella. Continues every night this week before settling into its weekly Tuesday night slot.

The eighth series [of Shameless], which began brilliantly last night, is to run for 22 episodes (the first five on consecutive evenings), which is much more them than us, and an indication of Channel 4's enduring faith in Paul Abbott's extraordinary gallery of grotesques, headed by Frank Gallagher (the peerless David Threlfall). Last night, Frank tried to come to terms with the terrible news that his daughter Debbie had been killed while serving in Afghanistan, and then with the terrible news that his ex-wife Monica had faked the news of Debbie's death, with the help of her gay partner, posing as a military policewoman. I wonder if the Americans are ready for a family as dysfunctional as the Gallaghers, who make the Simpsons look like the Obamas.

Frank Gallagher is feeling philosophical at the start of a new series of the grubby comedy drama as he quotes "snail-chewer" René Descartes: "I think, therefore I am." But by the end of the episode, the first of five running nightly, we're asking who and, more importantly, where is Frank? It appears he might have been abducted by aliens (there's a cute Close Encounters spoof as he gazes in rapture at his brightly lit mothership, The Jockey pub). As we flash back, Frank (David Threlfall) is preparing to marry nice librarian Libby (Pauline McLynn), a bright, presentable woman who is, for reasons that simply cannot be explained, prepared to hitch her wagon to this singularly revolting specimen of manhood. But the wedding preparations are thrown into disarray when the Gallagher household receives terrible news.