WILLIAM MCILVANNEY: LIVING WITH WORDS, BBC2, 10pm

THIS documentary was first broadcast last year but is being shown again in tribute to McIlvanney who died recently.

I read my first McIlvanney novel at school and was initially annoyed that we were being force-fed Scottish literature. A pretentious wee madam, I wanted to read the best novels, not just the best Scottish novels - and was dismayed at being handed three Scottish authors. What about the rest of the world, eh?

The first book, Weir of Hermiston, was tedious so when I arrived at the next on the reading list, McIlvanney’s Docherty, I was probably in a black mood but when I realised how fine and rich it was I no longer resented English pupils who’d be reading their Austen and Brontes.

McIlvanney proved that a novel might be set in “wee” Scotland but could still contain all the philosophy and character you could hope for, thereby proving there’s nothing wee about it if your mind is open and your imagination wide. It took McIlvanney’s words to prise my mind open and his death is a terrible, terrible loss.

This documentary, only half an hour long, is a portrait of the man and he looks back at his life and brilliant work.

LUTHER, BBC1, 9pm

I REVIEWED ITV’s Prey last week and grumbled about the proliferation of police dramas. Not only are they repetitive but they’re arguably becoming redundant as there are so many excellent documentaries appearing about police work and these are more powerful than most dramas.

The documentaries I’m thinking of (24 Hours In Police Custody, Hunting The Paedophiles, Murder Detectives) are all on Channel 4 whereas the dull little cop dramas will be found elsewhere. I wonder if that’s because the Channel 4 Execs realise how paltry one of these series might appear when placed alongside real life?

Luther is a detective drama, so I felt weary as I sat down to watch it. But whilst it contains many staples of the genre, not the least of which is a dark and tormented main character, a maverick who doesn’t play by the rules etc, it at least provided some shocks.

This is the fourth series although it only consists of two episodes. Idris Elba plays Luther, who has taken leave from the force, hiding himself away in a clifftop cottage but his colleagues soon come calling: they need his help because a cannibal serial killer is on the loose in London.