Darren McGreevey

At first sight, I thought “Glaswegian rapper tackles inequality” might be on a par with “Strictly star exposes third world hunger” - i.e. celebrity skimming over the surface of a good cause. Couldn’t have been more wrong. This is a tough, thoughtful series which includes more intelligent analysis per square minute than any other documentary you’re likely to see.

“The State We’re In” tackled UK inequality in three areas - justice, education and health - over three one-hour episodes. You can’t say it’s lacking in ambition. It’s also got a wide reach in terms of the evidence it examines. Obviously a lot of high-powered experts have seen this as the opportunity to share intelligent innovation, so we get three kinds of information - powerful testimony about the dysfunction of our current system, vivid examples of how they do it better in Scandinavia, and lively vignettes of the good practice that is nonetheless possible - against the odds - in the UK.

Holding it all together is McGreevey himself - warm, personal witty, but also driven by a passionate sense of justice, and anger at the consistent way in which that’s denied by our current government. So it’s a devastating indictment, but not a wallow in despair - there is light at the end of the tunnel, but we have to drag our leaders to see it for themselves. What more could you ask?