MOTORWAY service stations, how much do you hate them? On a long journey, when you need a pit stop and don’t want to take a chance on the nearest town (have you seen Deliverance?), they are a necessary evil. Crowded, noisy, expensive, it’s a get in-get out fast mission.

So if I said that there was a place that’s a destination in itself, a service station where people happily spend a few hours eating and shopping, you will either choke on your breakfast or say, “Tebay! Love it there. Did you see the ducks?”

The secret is now officially out courtesy of A Lake District Farm Shop (Channel 4, Saturday, 8.15pm). Tebay Services in Cumbria was opened in 1972. It was the first farm shop to open on a motorway, in this case the M6, and it remains a family run business that supports local producers and craft workers.

In each episode the cameras accompany buyers as they try out new products to sell in the shop. Anything goes, from tweed cushions to ketchup, as long as it is a bit special. One buyer is ex-Harvey Nicks, another worked at Harrods: Tebay means foodie business.

It’s not all about the fancy preserves and artisan cheeses, as when the staff go out on the regular litter pick-up. In another segment we watch as a local dairy hand-wraps thousands of butter portions for the cafe.

Not your regular Saturday night viewing perhaps, but an enjoyable, relaxing hour. And yes, the ducks are cute.

Is it my imagination or is Alan Yentob turning a bit Alan Bennett in his adoration of characterful women? After his fascinating and affectionate profile of Marian Keyes comes Imagine ... Miriam Margolyes (BBC1, Monday, 11.40pm).

“One of Britain’s best loved and most provocative actresses,” says Yentob by way of a probably unnecessary introduction. Everybody knows Miriam, if not for the characters she has played then the voices she has supplied. A nun in Call the Midwife, Professor Sprout in Harry Potter, the Cadbury Bunny, guest appearances on Graham Norton, travelogues, an Imagine all to herself; Miriam is having quite the moment in the spotlight. “It’s all come too much too late,” she says wistfully of fame. Who is she kidding? She thrives on the attention. She has written a book, too, This Much is True, hence the reason for Yentob’s visit.

He finds her on the front steps of her London home, engaging passersby in conversation. She’ll talk to anyone if they want to talk to her. Once in conversation with Yentob it does not take long before her infamous naughty streak surfaces, as when she asks her interviewer when he had his first sexual encounter (though that is not the term she uses.

“About 15,” says Yentob, uneasily. He looks towards the camera and says, “I’m not sure we can leave this in.”

Miriam does not miss a beat. .“As the actress said to the bishop.” Miriam is very much an “actress said to the bishop” kind of gal.

The chat takes her back to her grandparents, who lived in Glasgow. She visited often - her Weegie accent is flawless - and adored them as much as she did her parents. An only child, her mother called them a “fortress family”, Miriam, mummy and daddy against the world.

She went to Cambridge, had a rotten time with the largely male, sexist comedy crowd, but stuck with acting. After graduating she found a job with the BBC drama department. The freelance voice work was pouring in too, with one memorable early gig the character of “Sexy Sonia”, reprised in Imagine.

In the late 90s she moved to LA in search of her American break. She appeared in a sitcom which only lasted five episodes before it was pulled. Then along came parts in Scorsese’s Age of Innocence and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. Finally, her career was taking off.

Now, as friend and chatshow host Graham Norton puts it, she is in the third act of her career, having a grand time, and still only 80. Long may she reign.

Normal People (BBC3, from Sunday, 10pm, or all 12 episodes on iPlayer) is having another airing in advance of a new offering from Sally Rooney, Conversations with Friends.

One of the biggest hits of lockdown, the story of Irish teenagers Connell and Marianne (Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones) falling in love is a modern classic. Sumptuously shot, beautifully written, tender, moving - I wanted it to go on and on and on.

Finally, everyone’s favourite estate agents make their high heeled return in Selling Sunset (Netflix). Get ready to drool over dream properties that come with some very big price tags. Here’s hoping all the girls play nice this time and there are none of those ugly squabbles that have sent previous series to the top of the Netflix charts.