To my shame, I had my doubts about Manuel Garcia-Ruffo, the Mexican actor who plays the title role in The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix, series two, part two, from Thursday).

As a fan of Michael Connelly’s Mickey Haller crime novels, I had my own idea what the character looked like. He bore a close resemblance to Matthew McConaughey, who played him in Brad Furman’s excellent movie of 2011 (although in that he went by the name “Mick” Haller). McConaughey is a hard act to follow, and I hadn’t seen much of Garcia-Ruffo bar The Magnificent Seven remake.

I had the same problem with Bosch (Prime Video), played by Titus Welliver. Now I cannot imagine anyone else playing him. The same goes for Garcia-Ruffo.

Dubbed the “Lincoln Lawyer” because he once worked out of his car, Mickey Haller is a well-known operator on the LA crime scene. He’s a charmer, which accounts for his two ex-wives still being in the picture. First wife Maggie McPherson (Neve Campbell) is the mother of his daughter, and also a lawyer (prosecution to Haller’s defence). Lorna Crane (Becki Newton), ex-wife number two, is his legal assistant.

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Together with Lorna’s fiance Cisco, an ex-biker, Mickey’s driver Izzy, and not forgetting Winston the pug, they make an endearingly dysfunctional little family, one that is joined from time to time by Haller’s latest date.

In this latest series the lawyer has fallen for Lisa, a restaurateur with a lot more to her than first appears.

At the end of part one, Haller took a serious beating in a car park and was last seen spark out and bloodied. Fans have had to wait to see how he is. Since there are five more episodes in this new batch, we’ll assume he recovers. The television adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer, one of Netflix’s most-watched shows, comes from David E Kelley, writer and producer of Big Little Lies, Ally McBeal, and other TV mega-hits.

At the height of its popularity, the sitcom celebrated in Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em Night (BBC4, Tuesday, from 8pm) drew an audience of 25 million. That was just in the UK; globally it sold to 59 other countries.

Viewers could not get enough of Frank Spencer (Michael Crawford), the endlessly accident-prone, beret-wearing husband of Betty (of “Ooooh Betty!” catchphrase fame), and father of baby Jessica. Not forgetting the cat that did a whoopsie on the carpet. I don’t recall the incontinent cat’s name, but like everything connected with this comedy it became part of the national conversation.

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Why was it so wildly popular? Why does this odd little scrap of a show from the 1970s come to deserve a tribute night of its own on BBC4, an honour last afforded to David Bowie no less?

You’ll have some idea if you watched Channel 5’s Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em: a Comedy Classic. If not, all is revealed here to mark the show’s 50th birthday.

The first-ever episode from 1973 airs at 8.30pm. This is bookended by Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice Remember … and To Be Perfectly Frank, a documentary that traces the origins of the character.

The famous stunts are still watch-through-the-fingers fare, and even more impressive for being Crawford’s own work.

Have you become a World on Fire (BBC1, Sunday) watcher? In this, the second series, the drama has found its groove. New characters have been added, among them Mark Bonnar’s dapper intelligence officer, and the focus has widened to take in Africa as well as Europe and the home front. As well as British troops, Indian and Australian soldiers get a look in too.

It’s a huge sprawl of a drama but it feels intimate. If, occasionally, the relatively miniscule budget is only too evident it only makes you marvel more at what was achieved by cast and crew.

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Hard to choose a favourite character, especially now smoothie-chops Bonnar has turned up, but if pushed it has to be Robina, played by Lesley Manville. She’s always top-drawer, but her portrayal here of the snooty widow who is a mix of the best and worst of Britishness is a joy to behold.

If you missed the first series of this international co-production it is still on iPlayer.

Also on iPlayer and deserving of your time is four-part drama The Sixth Commandment, which came to a conclusion this week. Timothy Spall and Anne Reid are outstanding as friends and neighbours who fall victim to a sociopathic fraudster. It’s a story made all the more chilling for being true.

Finally, if you spent last weekend taking part in the great Barbenheimer return to the cinema, come back to the telly for The Trials of Oppenheimer(BBC4, 10.30pm). It’s a Storyville documentary, with all the quality that suggests. If your appetite to know more about the man who changed the world has been whetted, this two hour film should supply all you need.