AS the year nears its end I have been thinking about the televisual highlights of 2017.

There have been more than a handful of stand out treats - some a surprise and others like a welcome pair of slippers, returning to keep us entertained and happy once more.

Amongst the usual light entertainment fare there have been some real little gems - lurking on catch up, Netflix or box set.

While our viewing habits may have changed - our appetites for good quality shows don’t dim - although there is still a lot we should be ashamed of.

While I was proudly one of the very few people who did not tune into the sun-drenched shenanigans of those stranded on Love Island, I did end the year having broken my run of having never watched the ITVBe channel.

This is the one where reality shows have been sent to, hopefully, die. Alas my 11-year-old started watching Tamara’s World recently, because it seems this is what her classmates are all talking about, and so I have been treated to a glimpse of the stinking rich and their lifestyle.

I didn’t want to know and I still don’t. And quite frankly apart from having lots of cash - which she doesn’t really know what to spend on next - Tamara’s World is actually quite dull.

She just has lunch with people and throws what look like quite boring parties while deciding what to buy for her little girl. A little girl who has everything in the first place because she has a mummy who quite clearly adores her.

She doesn’t need her own personal ball pit Tamara, you are doing alright without that.

With my brain cells slightly blunted by having to endure this for half an hour I recall the better aspects of last year’s telly viewing.

The final and ultimately satisfying series of Broadchurch, the bonkers but gripping Liar and the return of Star Trek.

Stella, the gentle but often bitingly witty Sky 1 drama written by and starring Ruth Jones, also bowed out after six series but went out on a high and the Detectorists won an army of fans just as they it called it a day with the third series.

Kay Mellor’s Love, Lies and Records on BBC1 was another unexpected treat although watching the central character go through her daily life was just exhausting.

She didn’t appear to actually sleep, or eat. It did however put an interesting slant on a career which has rarely, if ever, been in the spotlight.

I am pretty sure it is not quite that exciting - but then I’m going to go out on a limb here and say every hotel night manager is probably not Tom Hiddleston.