The CalMac high heid yin who gave the green light to taking part in Island Crossings (BBC Scotland, Sunday), clearly believes the old line about all publicity being good publicity. Why else would the ferry operator in the eye of a political storm offer itself up for a fly-on-the-wall documentary?

Sure enough, Island Crossings opened with a cancelled sailing. It was early August, day of the Brodick Highland Games, so pretty important for CalMac to be on its best form. Alas, nobody told the water cooler for the main engine.

Cut to the ticket office where kind soul Deborah was doing her best to keep spirits high/avoid a riot. “Did you come all the way from London?” she asked one woman. “Driving up? Tired, honey? I know. Fingers crossed for you doll.”

Deborah is new to the job, narrator Dougray Scott informed us. You don’t say? I reckon Deborah is going to be the canary in the coal mine for this eight-part series. If she is still smiling two months down the line then CalMac will have made it through the worst. But no pressure, doll.

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With its generally upbeat tone, Island Crossings was no Panorama, which is fine because Panorama has already contributed its tuppence worth. All that positivity and gentle pace didn’t half make for a long hour, though. As did showing similar scenes over and over. If you’ve seen one aerial shot of a ferry leaving harbour … Just when you thought the filmmakers were scraping the barrel for content, along came a scene of dock staff eating fermented herring, all for charidee of course. They gagged. They vomited into a bucket. It went on forever. Was this really the best the filmmakers could come up with to fill some more minutes?

There was plenty of righteous anger to be had in David Harewood on Blackface (BBC2, Thursday). The actor grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, a time when 20 million viewers spent their Saturday nights watching The Black and White Minstrel Show. Not for the first time when looking at that period did one wonder what the hell we were smoking back then.

Harewood had known instinctively that there was something deeply wrong with this. As he delved further into the subject the real poison began to emerge. Far from being harmless fun, as its supporters tried to argue, minstrelsy was a deliberate political act aimed at keeping black people down. As historian David Olusoga put it, it was racism made into an art form.

Rarely seen old clips showed famous faces wearing blackface. Particularly shocking was the dive into the BBC files. There had been complaints about the minstrel show, but they were dismissed in spectacularly patronising fashion by the management of the time.

This was a fascinating, long overdue and genuinely revealing hour with Harewood showing he’s as impressive a filmmaker as he is an actor.

The Hidden World of Hospitality with Tom Kerridge (BBC2, Thursday) promised a behind the scenes look at the business. “How much do our customers really know about what it takes to deliver a warm welcome, amazing food and great service?” asked the chef. Quite a lot actually, Tom. Have you seen the number of food and drink shows in the schedules?

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Hidden World was a reverse Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, highlighting what it takes to be the best in a tough business. Kerridge visited a Michelin-starred place in the Lake District where the owner-chef felt the need to be across every last detail, rarely leaving the premises to go home and see his family.

Kerridge gave him advice on striking a healthy work-life balance, using his own hard-won experience as an example. While interesting enough, anyone familiar with the chef would have heard it before. Not a lot new then, but the amiable Kerridge is always good company.

Ah, a new Friday night sitcom. It has been all of five minutes since the last one. Since they’ve generally been a giggle (Here We Go, The Other One), I’m not complaining.

The Power of Parker (BBC1, Friday) ups the ante with a fine cast led by Conleth Hill (Derry Girls, Holding) as the electrical “superstore” owner juggling an ailing business, a wife, and a girlfriend (Sian Gibson, Car Share).

Co-written by Gibson, the vibe is Car Share, by way of Benidorm and Victoria Wood, with characters saying things like, “I’ve got a tray of chicken drumsticks defrosting and I’ve not even touched the skirting boards.” The humour slips into broad territory at times, but it’s worth a repeat visit.

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The original and best purveyor of northern humour, Coronation Street (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) will not give the crown up easily. This week found Adam, Corrie’s resident Scot, marvelling over Audrey, the street’s Sassoon.

“She’s seen it all,” said Adam. “From World War Two to the pandemic.”

Yes, agreed her granddaughter, Sarah. “And all with the same hairdo.”