ARE you ready for the Line of Duty finale? It has been six often confusing weeks, but here we are, the last sprint to the finish and … well, what? Can we expect to see the fourth man, “H”, unmasked? Will Ted’s ever expanding cast of biblical characters, now standing at “Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey,” grow even larger? And what, pray, is a “Glasgow city coroner”?

The penultimate episode had the coroner howler, made by DI Steve Arnott, in what was a slow-burner of an instalment, setting up what is either going to be a doozy of a final or an infuriating opener for a seventh series.

Attempting to fill the void in the meantime was the thriller Viewpoint (STV, Monday-Friday). Noel Clarke played Martin Young, a one-time CID hotshot now busted down to surveillance. His job on this occasion was to keep watch on the partner of a missing woman, which he did by setting up shop with his cameras in the flat opposite.

The flat was occupied by a single parent and her daughter. Any chance of romance, you reckon? Of course there was. And were you meant to think of Rear Window? Of course you were.

Otherwise, Viewpoint tried to avoid cliches with plot twists that ranged from the merely daft to the flat out bonkers.

You could hardly blame the writer as he had five, count ‘em, hour long episodes to fill. Rear Window, at one hour 52 minutes was a mere blink of an eye in comparison.

If you had cut out Clarke’s brooding and the trawler-net’s worth of red herrings, the story could have been done and dusted in three nights, like the recent Too Close. If Monday to Wednesday was good enough for Emily Watson …

A visit to Dream Kitchens and Bathrooms with Mark Millar (Channel 5, Tuesday) sounded like an invitation too good to pass up, if only to see how the Scottish comic book titan managed to fit an international career around installing splashbacks. Turned out it wasn’t "that" Mark Millar, which was something of a disappointment. This Mark Millar was some builder bloke who had been in the trade for 30 years and knew the relative merits of granite worktops over laminate, which was probably more useful.

Anyway, Eddie and Michelle from Glasgow spent 50k on a kitchen and it turned out nice. Features included a gold tap and gold sockets. “Not solid gold,” said a smiling Eddie. For 50k I would have expected them to be diamond encrusted and whistle Dixie when I passed. Millar had lots of tips, though I did wonder what level he was pitching at when he warned against mixing water and electrics.

Starstruck (BBC1, Monday) arrived in a blaze of publicity heralding it as the new Fleabag. Another one. Comedian and writer Rose Matafeo played Jessie, a millennial in London. Another one.

Half way into the first of six episodes it looked like Starstruck was going to be latest in a long line of comedies attempting to get by without a single decent joke. But it got better, especially when Minnie Driver turned up as a hard-bitten agent. “If you think about eating bread call me and I’ll talk you down,” were her parting words to an actor client. The series is on iPlayer. Worth a dabble.

Still on the subject of discoveries, Trip Hazard: My Great British Adventure (Channel 4, Friday) has been a giggle. Comedian Rosie Jones, who has cerebral palsy, has been exploring the country with various celebs, the most entertaining of whom was Jenny Eclair. The pair went to Anglesey where such thrilling experiences as shovelling salt lay in waste.

Described by narrator Olivia Colman as being like “a disabled, northern, Joanna Lumley”, Jones had a commendably straightforward presenting style (“What the bloody hell is going on here?” was a typical opener) and a natural wit. You will be seeing her again.

This Time with Alan Partridge (BBC1, Friday) returned for a second series, with our man in the smart-casual slacks thriving in a nightly live show/pile of piffle that’s not a million miles away from The One Show. He should be delighted, but this is Alan P, with the P standing for Paranoid. He has sniffed the air and suspects change is coming. And it is not wearing driving gloves.

Glad to see the writers (Coogan and Neil and Rob Gibbons) have kept what worked from the first series, including Sidekick Simon’s techno idiocy, and the nippy reporter who corrected everything Alan said.

As for Alan, the old devil has not changed. After a cringeworthy opening segment that started in his dressing room, Alan explained why Jennie had not welcomed the cameras into her place. “The only way to see inside a lady’s dressing room at the BBC would be to get a time machine and set the coordinates for the 1970s,” he said. Never change, Alan.

This article was updated on April 30, 2021 to include the following statement from ITV regarding its decision not to broadcast the final episode of Viewpoint: ​

​“ITV has a zero tolerance policy to bullying, harassment and victimisation and robust procedures in place to investigate and deal with any complaints. We strongly believe that everyone deserves to work in a supportive and safe environment.

In light of the very serious nature of the allegations against Noel Clarke raised by 20 women in the Guardian’s report, ITV has decided it is no longer appropriate to broadcast the final episode of the drama Viewpoint on ITV main channel this evening.

“We are mindful that some of our viewers have already invested four hours of their time over the past four nights in following this thriller which was due to conclude this evening, and they have yet to see the final episode.  As such we plan to make it available on ITV Hub tonight for a limited time for any viewers who wish to seek it out, and watch its conclusion.”