Photographer Adrian and his wife Agnes are stuck in a rut. Bills are piling up, there’s no fizz in their marriage and something needs to give.

One of the greater pleasures of reviewing episodes ahead of broadcast is that you normally avoid some critic or spoilsport tipping you off about what you’re going to watch, and my greatest joy with this instalment of the anthology show was watching it with no prior knowledge. So I’m not going to tell you about twists that might or might not happen or anything else that might interfere with your pure viewing experience.

What I can tell you is Nicola Walker is a national treasure and that her appearance in anything increases its quality by at least 25%. Her performance here is note-perfect, her delivery just so achingly believable and sad, while Steve Pemberton does a lot of the heavy lifting in other ways. Co-writer Reece Shearsmith gives himself a smaller role this time, letting the leads knock this one out of the ballpark.

Verdict: Stunning TV, and what a treat that shows like this exist – surprising, subverting, thrilling and shocking. 9/10

Nick Joy