Boss

Series one, episode two
It’s testament to the impact of this political drama that, while Tom Kane’s degenerative brain disorder is a nice conceit, it doesn’t feel all that essential to the plotting at this stage. Tonight, with the gubernatorial elections approaching, Kane’s team shows a predictably remarkable aptitude for dirty tricks, throwing out some ‘chump bait’ to the media before swooping in with a dastardly smear of their own.

Elsewhere, Tom’s daughter continues to baffle: is she a priest, a nurse, a junkie, a fraudster or even all four? Certainly, Meredith’s attitude to her is as far from maternal as is possible to imagine. Already, it feels safe to bemoan the canning of this show after two seasons – the scenarios seethe with intrigue and Kelsey Grammer is superb as the power-dizzy bully agonisingly coming to terms with his dramatically waning faculties.