Watching other people under pressure is a blast, or so television thinks. Hence the injection of jeopardy into everything from travel shows to Antiques Roadshow. Boiling Point (BBC1, Sunday) is the purest distillation of the idea. Sixty minutes of people screaming at each other and threatening violence, and that’s just the bar staff.

In the kitchen the boss has skipped out at the height of service to check on her supposedly ailing mum, there’s a new start who doesn’t know his artichoke from his eggplant, and oh look, a pan’s on fire. Plus, the joint is on the brink of going bust. If you are not chewing a cushion at this point you must be one of those nerves of steel types, like a heart surgeon, or a nursery teacher.

James Cummings’ four-part drama stems from the hit film of 2021. Shot in a single take and set across one evening, Boiling Point charted the meltdown of head chef Andy Jones (Stephen Graham). It was an exhilarating watch and this new series looks like being the same.

Andy is at home with a scar on his chest, feeling bitter about his old team not getting in touch with him. The staff, now led by Carly (Vinette Robinson), are too busy fighting to keep the place going, and anyway, Andy was a pain, a Tasmanian devil of a man running on drugs and booze.

Everything races along tickety-boo but there’s a certain not so secret sauce missing. The kitchen needs Andy, and the drama needs Graham, so here’s hoping he is out of that flat in the second episode.

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Union with David Olusoga (BBC2, Monday) is the sort of glossy yet serious study of Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales and the united, or disunited, kingdom they form.

How the heck did that one sneak through, you may be wondering. Who knows, but I am delighted it did, and even more so that Olusogo is in charge. A few years ago this gig might have gone to Neil Oliver. A nation shudders at the thought.

Olusogo is the ideal choice here because he is a storyteller at heart, taking what could be a confusing amount of material and picking out the parts most likely to draw the viewer in. So he begins with that old reliable, Guy Fawkes, before moving on to the heavier constitutional stuff.

What sets Union apart is its mix of “ordinary people” and the usual experts. As in the recent Once Upon a Time in Iraq and Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland, men and women share their personal views and experiences. The approach pays off handsomely, bringing the subject to life.

One moan, though: in the preview I saw the experts were introduced with full names and titles while the “civilians” were first name only, and no context. Informed and articulate, they obviously deserve to be there, but I would still like to know who they are.

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Seems like forever since Peter Mullan has been on our screens, but here he was, growly as a bear with a migraine in the six-part, Edinburgh-set drama Payback (STV, Wednesday). Mullan played Cal Morris, a Mr Big in the criminal underworld who used little people to launder his dirty money. Little people like the accountant husband of yummy mummy (and fellow accountant) Lexie (Morven Christie).

The two worlds collide when a money transfer goes wrong. Morris suspects that Lexie is not as green as she is cabbage-looking, but is he right?

Payback comes from Jed Mercurio’s stable and duly rattles along at a fair old rate. What lifts it above the routine is Christie’s wonderfully subtle performance, which keeps the viewer guessing.

The Dog Hospital with Graeme Hall (Channel 5, Thursday) is something of a departure for “our Graeme”, as Cilla used to say on Blind Date. He is not actually that Graeme. This Graeme is the trainer extraordinaire from Dogs Behaving Badly. Up and down the land he goes, bringing peace where there is barking.

Someone has decided Graeme needs to get out even more, so he has been packed off to the Willows, an animal hospital in the West Midlands where he has the usual “exclusive access” behind the scenes.

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Hold the chew toy there, you might be wondering, isn’t this Noel Fitzpatrick’s territory? And him a fully qualified vet? Well, yes, but he’s Channel 4, and there is no law to say you can’t have two shows that cross 24 Hours in A&E with All Creatures.

Patients in the first episode included a lame puppy that fell off a wall, and a Husky that had suddenly gone blind. From the gleaming efficiency everywhere it was clear we were a long way from NHS land. Graeme bustled around, talking to owners and staff, lending a sympathetic ear there and having a laugh where it was appropriate. This was Graeme unleashed.

While sure to be a hit, the programme came with the usual absence of any details about how much all this advanced care sets owners back. Grrrr.