STICKS and Stones (STV, Monday-Wednesday) was written by Mike Bartlett, the creator of Doctor Foster, so we knew it was going to be high-octane fare. Not long in it became clear that the maestro of midlife mayhem had outdone himself.

Everyone say hello to Thomas, a middle manager at an office services firm. Pitching for a big contract, Thomas discovered the internet cable was not plugged in. Just connect to wifi, hissed a colleague. As bad luck would have it, Thomas was one of three people left in the world who did not know how to do this, so he fainted. Felled like a tree. Timber! Instead of being sympathetic, his co-workers, irritated at the loss of their bonuses, began bullying him.

Over the course of three nights the viewer was invited to wonder whether Thomas was paranoid, or if everyone really was out to get him. But his harassers were so patently awful that it was difficult to take any of them seriously. One began to wonder if it was not Thomas being “gaslighted”, but us. At one point, Thomas turned up to a dinner with his wife and her father to find one of his tormentors there as well. The interloper’s explanation? She had been passing the restaurant, recognised Thomas’s wife from a photo on his desk, and decided she would introduce herself. Sheesh, how many times has that happened in your life? Quite.

Bartlett did make some serious points at the end about the insidious nature of bullying and he had a decent enough twist, as long as you had not spotted it coming a mile off. As for how the matter was finally resolved, there is a chestnut planted in 1793 that is more youthful than that plot device.

The nation has spoken, and half the nation has said, “Go, Brexit, and never darken our door mats and towels again. We do not wish to hear another word.” But hang on, what is this on the horizon? It’s The Brexit Storm Continues: Laura Kuenssberg’s Inside Story (BBC2). With one glimpse of the BBC’s political editor in her summer dress and pumps, racing along Millbank to the Commons, we were back in the summer of 2019 and Boris Johnson was about to be elected leader of the Conservatives. From there it was a sprint through recent political history to where we are now.

This was presented as the ultimate behind the scenes take on events.

Well, not totally behind the scenes. That is the trouble with films like this: everyone concerned is still aware that cameras are present, so they are not completely candid or at ease. It would not do for the BBC political editor to tell us what she really thought of this and that, and her or him. As such, this was good PR for Kuenssberg, showing her to be ferociously hard working and ahead of the pack. For all the artificiality, there was a frankness in her reactions to events. Good to see that at times she was just as gob-smacked as the rest of us. She can also rock a biker jacket.

The fly on the wall style produced a couple of gems, including Jacob Rees-Mogg being unable to open a bottle of water and handing it over to Steve Baker, MP, Brexiteer and self-dubbed “working class kid from Cornwall”, to do the honours. I also liked the mum who approached Johnson while he was on a walkabout to say her son looked just like him. “It could be your love child,” she laughed. He did not. I do not recall seeing that on the 10 O’Clock News.

Off the Ball: Petty and Ill-Informed (BBC Scotland, Wednesday) was an enjoyable canter through the history of the BBC Radio Scotland show hosted by Tam Cowan and Stuart Cosgrove. We were told it was a “national institution”, but then so is Barlinnie. So what accounts for its longevity - 25 years and counting?

A few producers had their say, plus a gaggle of talking heads from Lorraine Kelly and Kirsty Wark to Christopher Brookmyre and footballer Leanne Crichton. It would not be a BBC doc without some self-flagellation so there was a couple of minutes shoehorned in on Cowan’s comments about women’s football. Otherwise, an enjoyable time was had by all, including this viewer. The grand conclusion: the show works because Cowan has funny bones, Cosgrove has two brains, and they both love football and know a lot about it.

It can be expensive bringing up children. Jamie Oliver has five of them, which is presumably why he put some of them to work in Jamie's Easy Christmas Countdown (Channel 4). Help daddy with his programme, guys, or get up the chimney. What charming commis chefs they turned out to be. It has become Oliver’s job every festive season to go through the bleedin’ obvious about cooking Christmas dinner. With basic cooking skills no longer passed down in families or taught at schools someone has to do it, and Oliver makes a good teacher. Courtesy of his bish-bosh, get stuck in attitude, many will sit down to a lovely lunch next Wednesday, or at the very least not be struck down with food poisoning. Happy Christmas.