The Crown might grab most of the headlines but if you’re looking for a drama about a powerful family nothing quite matches the dark delights of Succession.
In fact, the glossy HBO series makes The Crown look like The Darling Buds Of May.
The Roys have returned for a third series of familial menace; welcome to the most poisonous kin on television, where a hand on the shoulder likely precedes a knife in the back.
Season three follows directly on from the last run in which Kendall (Jeremy Strong) publicly betrayed his menacing father, Logan, played once more like an ailing mafia boss by Brian Cox.
It was revealed Logan, originally from Dundee, was a Hibs fan. Being a Hibee in a Dundee housing scheme clearly ignited a smouldering lifelong fury his blundering children do nothing to quell.
I’m not sure why Succession fascinates so many, although the bounty of devilish barbs in the script certainly helps.
There’s definitely an appeal in the almost complete moral vacuum of most of the characters. Skeletor bullying his underlings was always more interesting than goody two-identities He-Man, after all.
The script is also delightfully cruel, too, with most of the agricultural lines too much for a family newspaper. Even the stands of Easter Road have rarely heard so many choice insults.
Succession, Sky Atlantic, Mondays, 9pm
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