As Bruce Springsteen might have said if he was writing about Mum it’s darkness on the edge of town this week. It’s an October morning, the sun has not risen and Cathy is mooching around, finding various people in various states of distress and undress around her suburban semi.

Kelly has been up most of the night – anxious about her boyfriend’s move to Australia – and has left the usual trail of unthinking detritus behind her. Which this week includes muddy paw prints from the fox she invited in in the night to share her food. This act of kindness typifies Kelly. She means well but someone else has to clear up afterwards. I guess she is supposed to be sympathetic, but fuck me, Cathy must have the patience of a saint to put up with her.

Elsewhere Cathy’s brother Derek is sleeping on a sofa after a heavy night. Since the last episode he seems to have been booted out of his own house by snooty girlfriend Pauline, who turns up on her way to work to allow Derek back in briefly. Kelly actually manages to put the boot into Pauline nicely with an innocent barbed comment when she notices her Waitrose name-badge – “you work in a supermarket too…” 

It’s good to see that this gentle series is building up a following thanks to some excellent buzz on social media. I’ve not seen anyone say a bad thing about it. You could argue that the script patronises dim people, but there is much more texture to Stefan Golaszewski’s script than initially meets the eye.

Oh and there is one other person who is recovering from a sleepover. Michael is also loafing about suffering from a hangover after a late night, but still hasn’t quite made it up to Cathy’s bed yet. I’ve a feeling this is going to be one of those unresolved romances with only one week left. How else are you going to have a second series?

Mum, Fridays, 10pm, BBC2.

Review of Episode 1 here.

Review of Episode 2 here.

Review of Episode 3 here.

Review of Episode 4 here.