IT was a hit in the latter phases of lockdown, and it is arguably more essential now, but whatever the reasons for the return of Couples Therapy (BBC2, Friday, 11.05pm/11.35pm) its devotees will rejoice.

Dr Orna Guralnik, psychoanalyst and purveyor of the talking cure to New York couples, is back. Also returning for a third series are her catchphrases, or the nearest an analyst can come to such things, including, “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm”, and “What are you hearing?”, and her clinical adviser, Dr Virginia Goldner.

Most importantly, viewers have the chance to renew their acquaintance with Dr Orna’s dog, Nico, who is an Alaskan Klee Kai, or miniature husky to you and me.

Nico’s role in proceedings is to help the doc greet couples in her waiting area (think Jennifer Melfi in The Sopranos), and sit quietly in her dog bed looking wise while the visiting humans bicker, fall apart, and sometimes get back together again.

The couples in this series include Ping and Will, together for seven years and in an open relationship. At first, going their separate ways but still being partners worked, but then “boundaries became a huge issue,” says Ping (to the surprise of no viewer). Another couple, married eight years, two children, have lost the spark in their relationship.

When it comes to being open about their feelings it helps that the clients are New Yorkers and not exactly backward in coming forward, plus the cameras are hidden so people tend to forget they are there after a while.

Would the format work in Scotland? Discuss.

There were historic scenes in Westminster last week with the surprise visit by Ukraine’s president Vlodomyr Zelenskyy. As the one year anniversary of the Russian invasion approaches there will doubtless be plenty of analysis asking where the war might go from here. For a first class primer in how we got to this point it is hard to beat Putin v the West (BBC2, Monday, 9pm), the last episode of which airs this week.

Norma Percy’s outstanding films have taken the story back ten years. Now it is the run up to the invasion and the pace picks up accordingly. Diplomats shuttle back and forth and phone lines run hot as the push to prevent war intensifies. Putin, meanwhile, continues to deny any intention to invade, despite Russian tanks and troops massing on Ukraine’s border.

Boris Johnson, one of many ex-premiers interviewed, recounts his phone conversation with Putin, during which he claims to have been threatened by the Russian president. The Kremlin denied this.

Mr Johnson also recalls speaking to Zelenskyy as the invasion began. He offered the president “ a place of safety”, but “he heroically stayed where he was”.

Guy Garvey: From the Vaults (Sky Arts, Friday, 10.15pm) finds the Elbow singer and lyricist once more living the dream. It has been his job to dig for gold in the ITV archive in Leeds, home to one of the largest collections of musical performances. Out-takes, extra sessions never before seen by the public, rare interviews: they are all here, waiting to be discovered again.

In the first episode the year selected is 1978. Punk is on its way out, and the race to be the next big thing is on. ITV did not have The Old Grey Whistle Test, but it had plenty of Saturday morning children’s shows and regional arts programmes that gave a spotlight to up and coming acts. Anyone remember Our Show? In one clip Bob Geldof tells a kid, as a joke, that he’s going to give him a live rat.

Here are The Undertones singing Teenage Kicks, the Boomtown Rats, Billy Idol, X-Ray Spex and, wait for it, the Buzzcocks performing Ever Fallen in Love.

Next week Garvey reaches the 1980s, with shows on 1982, 1984 and 1987, before finishing with an electronica special.

High Fidelity, About a Boy, Fever Pitch: Nick Hornby’s novels have tended to make successful transitions to the big screen. Funny Woman (Sky Max, Thursday, 9pm) contents itself with the small screen, and is all the more watchable for it.

Gemma Arterton plays a lass from Blackpool who dreams of making it big in London. She doesn’t know how exactly, but she can do voices from the radio, and she makes her friends and family laugh. But it is the Sixties, when women’s role in comedy, if they had one at all, was to be the subject of men’s jokes.

Funny Woman revels in the London of the times. Then, as now, it wasn’t an easy place to conquer, and Barbara, working in a department store, has just about had enough. But she came to London “to be someone” and that’s what she is going to do.

Arterton is superb as the wide-eyed young woman who has to toughen up quickly if she is to survive.