Costume dramas belong on a Sunday night. My only real concern about Parade’s End was the somewhat perverse decision to broadcast it on a Friday.

Conversely, a good detective yarn finds its natural home at about 9pm on a midweek evening.

The Bletchley Circle is both costume drama and good detective yarn. Combining those elements has conjured a mystical alchemy that makes the show watchable on any day of the week.

BBC Television Centre was a one-of-a-kind institution. It served not only as the technical model for media facilities the world over but also a clearing-house of ideas that still form the basis of the best TV drama and comedy today.

It was also a sort of university, training some of the most able broadcasters and production staff we’re ever likely to have in the UK. So, understandably, quite a few people are sorry to see it go.

Sean and Beverly Lincoln, the writers at the heart of Episodes, would barely give this show’s premise a second glance.

Bickering couple? Check.

Fish-out-of water scenario? Check.

The original Danish series launched a thousand cosy jumpers and started a veritable gold-rush of TV executives hunting for the next for brainy Scandinavian thriller.

But the ugly truth about the show we hipsters call Forbrydelsen, is that it’s a bit hard to watch while you’re eating, reading a magazine or pottering around on the Internet. We may not like to admit that we do those things in front of the television, but there it is.

And a subtitled mystery where clues may be concealed in the most innocuous conversations does not ideal TV dinner fare make.

By and large, I don’t tend to tell you about bad television here.

In a multichannel environment of sometimes bewildering choice, I try to use the privilege of seeing TV programmes earlier than most to pick the diamonds out of the dirt for you.

It seems unnecessary for me to point out where the rubbish is.

But I can’t tell you about everything that’s good. A case in point is Meet The Romans. A combination of a website redesign for The Lady and an inconveniently-scheduled half-term holiday meant that I didn’t find time to tell you about BBC2’s rather modern look at that already well-explored ancient civilisation.

Which is a shame, because it’s great.

It’s fronted by Professor Mary Beard. What she doesn’t know about The Romans isn’t worth putting in three one-hour television documentaries about the ordinary people of Rome.