Robson Green

Not only that, but Howie has recently been promoted to management - which means that Colin, normally the dominant one, has to put up with his old mucker being his boss. It also means the programme can throw an element of class politics that surely owes more to Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? than to modern British life.

Northern Lights is a likeable entertainment, providing a comforting, comedic echo of the times when the workplace really was an area of strife. Writers Jeff Pope and Bob Mills have taken care to set their protagonists in differing domestic contexts to highlight their differences as well as their deep friendship.

Grafters (ITV) looks like the blatant billing of two bankable names, Robson Green and Stephen Tomlinson. But, as the Rev Bronte said when he read Jane Eyre, "Girls! Girls! Charlotte has written a book and it is much better than likely." The much-better-than-likely Grafters is vividly written by Michael Chaplin.