Sometimes the hype is far more exciting than whatever it's flagging up, but in the case of the long-awaited BBC drama Burton and Taylor (BBC Four, Monday) the tables were well and truly turned.
The Beeb could have shouted a whole lot louder about this one – especially with the sad coincidental revelation that it will be the last of the channel's acclaimed homegrown biopics for the forseeable future, in the light of big budget cuts. It was simply outstanding.
I'm old enough to be familiar with the on-off love match between global movie and stage stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Their turbulent relationship made rich pickings for the gossip columns from my childhood through to my first job in journalism and beyond. But I'd never given any thought to the real story behind the headlines.
This wonderful, absorbing and satisfying drama, starring two of my favourite actors, Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter in the title roles, offered a tantalising glimpse of how these two extraordinary characters were immersed in an obsessive bond that gave them pleasure and pain in equal measure.
Rather than attempting to document the whole journey, the story focused on a few months at the very end of their road together in the early 1980s. After twice divorcing each other and both having new partners, they agreed to take the lead roles in a Broadway stage production of Noel Coward's comedy Private Lives.
A play with a plot that strangely echoed their own situation, it had them sparring on stage in front of audiences who were desperate to witness their extraordinary chemistry. And behind the scenes, the flames of brooding passion and a deep, unextinguished love roared silently.
Dominic was mesmerising as the wounded Welshman skirting the edge of a spider's web that he knew would only imprison him. And Helena delivered the sad, smitten and alcoholic Elizabeth – in mind, body and spirit – in a performance that may be her finest to date.
If you missed it, I highly recommend chasing it on catch-up. I loved it so much that I might watch it all over again.
That's not a sentiment I can apply to Kirstie Allsopp's rather dull and shambolic new home makeover series, the very oddly named Kirstie's Fill Your House For Free (Channel 4, Tuesday).
It might just be me, but there's something rather skew whiff about the set-up for this hybrid show. Kirstie's team stocked up a shop with furniture that had been sourced for free; then she helped hard-up Glasgow couples to take their pick of the pieces from the store, before hired help gave some of the rooms in their houses a makeover using the bargains.
Then an "expert" called in to price up the whole job at full whack, thereby demonstrating how much money they'd saved.
It was totally devoid of the entertainment, charm and sense of challenge of Kirstie's previous outings, where she encouraged us to learn the craft skills that could fuel a creative transformation of our homes. Cutting up side tables, spray painting them white and screwing them to the walls as shelves was as interesting as it got.
Kirstie looked pretty bored to me. Now that's where we had something in common... it was a long hour that won't be repeated.
Finally, in this rooting tooting twittering age of social networking, there were some salutary lessons to be learned in Don't Blame Facebook (Channel 4, Monday).
While it's fine to eavesdrop on other people's conversations on the train, apparently it's not OK to Tweet verbatim – complete with first names and sweary insults – the break-up row being played out loudly and publicly between the couple in the next seat. Social media advice there, people.