In the ultra-competitive world of comedy writing some titles are better to have on the cv than others. Take Schitt’s Creek. The comedy about a rich family fallen on hard times was a sizeable hit when it aired in Canada from 2015-20. But then it went to Netflix, the pandemic happened, and Schitt’s Creek’s success went global.

Among the writers was one Monica Heisey, whose latest sitcom turns up on screens here next week. Smothered (Sky Comedy, Thursday, 10pm; 10.30pm, catch up via Now) is the tale of two young Londoners, neither looking for love after bad experiences in the dating game, but who might just find it anyway.

Jon Pointing and Danielle Vitalis star as Tom and Sammy, who meet in a karaoke bar. They bond over how naff the place is and what a rotten time they are having. But before you know it one drink leads to another and the night is declared a hit.

Sammy has an idea: they will have a casual fling, as in “the old days”, and in three weeks they will part pals. No strings, no commitments, just fun. Easy done? Ask Harry and Sally, or any of the countless screen couples who discover love is more complicated than that.

Smothered has a young vibe, and while the world of flat-sharing and first jobs might be one you left behind some time ago, Tom and Sammy are a highly watchable pair, the script is original and bright, and the soundtrack is not half bad either. Any sitcom that finds room for Supertramp’s Goodbye Stranger is welcome here any time.

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Seeds of Deceit: the Sperm Donor Doctor (BBC4, Monday, 10pm and 10.45pm) is billed as a three-part documentary series, but there is more than a touch of modern day horror movie about it.

The first episode opens with scenes from a previous documentary about Dr Jan Karbatt, who ran a fertility clinic in the Netherlands. We see him chatting to patients and telling the camera how much he loves his job. As interviews with some of the women soon make clear, that was far from the whole story.

The interviews follow a sad pattern. A couple, or usually just a woman, would suffer years of infertility. They were getting older, the pressure was mounting, and Dr Jan promised he could help. So they filled out forms, detailing what they wanted in a sperm donor: hair and eye colour, education, whether they had a happy childhood or not - one woman even specified a shoe size.

The treatments went ahead, despite some of the women suspecting all was not as it should be. Karbaat would make creepy, inappropriate comments, and then there was his insistence that patients tell no-one outside their families about the treatment they had.

In one of the most chilling moments in the film, a patient recalls how Karbaat would write after a baby’s birth to request a photo. These were his “trophies” she says. In time, the resemblance between Karbaat and some of the children became glaring. The authorities were now on the case.

Director Miriam Guttman does an excellent job of setting out the facts of the case while sensitively exploring the complex feelings of the families left to live with the consequences.

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Started the Christmas shopping yet? If not, Selfridges at Christmas (Channel 5, Sunday, 9pm) will either get you in the mood or see you pulling the duvet over your head.

Most of the big stores pull out all the stops for Christmas but no-one does it quite like Selfridges on Oxford Street. That’s the gist of this jolly look behind the scenes that is as packed with facts and figures as it is stuffed with retail experts.

The store’s 24 windows are changed four times a year, with the Christmas displays taking the longest to plan. As one “visual merchandiser” tells us, there is a four second window of opportunity between a display catching the eye of a passerby and them deciding to go into the store. After that, the window dresser’s job is done and it is over to the sales staff to do the rest. There is more to that than displaying the goods nicely, although that undoubtedly helps. It’s all about creating an atmosphere, conjuring up a sense of magic. At Selfridges that notion is in with the bricks courtesy of the store’s founder.

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Harry Gordon Selfridge knew all about putting on a show. Before opening his flagship store in 1909 he spent record amounts on advertising. On the big day the excitement was such that 90,000 people queued round the block to get in. Selfridge went to extraordinary lengths to tempt shoppers through the door, whether that meant putting the first plane to cross the channel on display, or getting hold of the latest technology. On the latter front Selfridge agreed a young inventor by the name of John Logie Baird could demonstrate his “televiser”. By all accounts the product went on to become a success.