There is little doubt that Tony Conroy’s voice was one that society needed to hear. The taxi driver focal point of The Night Caller (Channel Five, Sunday) was once a Liverpool school teacher who, after 27 years loyal service, was ‘thrown on the scrapheap’ like an old blackboard duster.

Yes, writer Nick Saltrese was right to home in on the acute area that is men’s mental health, given today’s male suicide rates and increasing sense of social isolation. We could appreciate the inner turmoil in the mind of the science master with the chemical imbalance, reduced to seeking comfort from a stranger, in this case Lawrence, (Sean Pertwee) a late-night radio presenter. “A complete waste of space, I’ve been called,” says Tony (Robert Glenister) to his new best friend on air.

But while this is a story that society needs to hear, was it a drama that needed to be seen?

The Night Caller isn’t a tale quite as depressed as all the Scots Tories and Nats put together, but it’s close. We discover that Lawrence is an inciter, a disembodied head with a contrived conscience, using his listeners to work up anger – and ratings. And just to compound Tony’s unrelenting misery, no sooner do the clouds part (a little) in the form of a date with café worker Rosa (Suzanne Packer), than he has to contend with her ex-partner/thug.

Robert Glenister as TonyRobert Glenister as Tony (Image: free)

What we have then is an hour of unrelenting misery playing out in Tony’s head. That’s not to say it’s not gripping – taking its tone from old Play for Today dramas – but it’s certainly not punctuated by clever lines of dialogue that were PFT hallmarks.

There’s little doubt that emasculation is a major issue for society. But to run to a drama over four nights it has to offer a little more light.

There was nothing dark at all however about The Turkish Detective, (BBC 2, Sunday), a crime tale that offers up a magnificent megapolis on the fringes of Europe where millenniums of history collide with the chaos of modern life.

In amongst the shots of incredible Istanbul, we were offered up standard Murder in Paradise fare, (expectedly) and little culture clash moments endured by Mehmet Suleyman (Ethan Kai), a British-Turkish detective reassigned from London to Istanbul (for reasons we should not be worrying our pretty little heads about.)

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And it was all too predictable that the wacky taxi driver who picks him up from the airport turns out to be his eccentric boss, Inspector Ikmen (Haluk Bilginer, who creates a very good screen character, even if he’s watched a few too many Columbo re-runs.)

Anyway, before Suleyman has even had the chance to hang up his work shirts he’s working on a murder investigation (with a wearying plot line) and chasing baddies along the streets of Istanbul. And not successfully.

What is it with young TV detectives these days who look like they’ve been eating way too many Turkish Delights? (Rebus is another case in point.) This is clearly a plot-driven series – and we won’t be spending too much time in Suleyman’s head. Nor will be gain insight into Turkish politics or the crazed leadership of Recep Erdoğan.

Yes, there’s a hint of something of a subplot involving Suleyman’s sister who has memory issues, oh, and he has girlfriend anxiety. But this is standard whodunnit fare with a little fish-out-of-water angst thrown in.

Michelle de Swarte as MiaMichelle de Swarte as Mia (Image: free)

In Spent (BBC2 Monday) the fish-out-of-water is, surprisingly, catwalk model Mia who becomes bankrupt in America and escapes back to London before she gets dragged into court.

But can she give up the six-Louboutin’s for pound-shop flip flops? Not a chance. Based on former model Michelle de Swarte’s story, we hear her accountant explain that Mia has spent $36,500 on brunch and more than $14,000 on crystals. “Over a year,” Mia explains. “You’re making it sound bad because you’re adding it all together.”

And somehow, she offers a sociological argument for her profligacy.” If you come from nothing,” she explains brilliantly, “you have to spend the poverty out of you.”

Mia, we learn, would rather take coke than a bus to get her across London. But the big question this series poses is should we care about those who don’t really care about themselves?

Well, no. Yet incredibly we do. Somehow, we feel sympathy for this woman who gives the strong impression she’s an almost fully formed idiot. Such is the humour and cleverness of de Swarte’s writing is that we can feel some concern for her because her world has moved on.

What also makes Spent compelling is that we learn it’s about growing up. Somewhere down the line there is a price to pay. And if you’re lucky you still have a support system. Yes, you may end up spending the first night back in London on a sex website, and your first job is looking after a rampant lesbian’s doggy loves. But if you can tackle all that defiantly, with humour, the world will laugh with you.