Once again, I found myself dumbfounded whilst watching The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle (BBC Two, Thursday, 9pm). I can’t help but think that this show is dwindling in popularity… if it was popular at all… and that is a crying shame as everyone is missing the blackest comedy ever shown on TV.

The subtext of …Vyle is clearly whistleblowing. Not many shows have had the sheer bloody nerve to expose so much of TVs seedy underbelly, which has left me poring over every single prop, line and movement to try and work out who the writers of the show are having a pop at. Obviously, the big one is Jeremy Kyle. That said, one gets the impression that, whilst Kyle is the obvious target, they taking a few others down with him.

Jennifer Saunders has previously lampooned the inner workings of TV. In a sketch show with Dawn French, the pair showed the ‘ideas’ process, with the pair being left in a room to ‘be funny’. The sketch was uncomfortable viewing as the duo sat in a room sighing and eating at the license payers expense. It largely went unnoticed, but it is clear that Jennifer Saunders still has a beef with the world of media.

The amount of nastiness in last night’s show went up tenfold from previous weeks. So snide and underhand was some of the exchanges that you couldn’t help but think that there were some people who work in TV squirming in their seats. One spod behind The Vivienne Vyle Show was attacked by her producer (the brilliantly loathsome Miranda Richardson) which left her wanting sue. This led to some actual tenderness as the psychologist of the show left her with some real heart and thoughtfulness. As the exchanges grew warmer and more believable, the runner stated “You should get your own show”. Bashful and proud, the quack beamed “Well, I can’t say it hasn’t crossed my mind…”. Who hasn’t dreamed of hosting their own show? Of course, this being the horrible world of entertainment, this was used against him with a “you want to watch him… he wants his own show…” That moment, like no other, actually left me reeling.

For me, I enjoy the incredible pain of watching …Vyle. It’s a thouroughly unpleasant viewing experience… but as I’ve said before, that’s the point. It’s like watching Brass Eye. It’s a comedy that hits incredibly hard. It’s an assault on your senses. By that, I don’t mean it’s full of flashy graphics and gimmicks, but rather, every single aspect of every single character is odious, misguided, shallow, self serving and greedy. You are not meant to identify with any of the characters. You are certainly not supposed to feel any sympathy either. That’s why this show is so brilliant. It’s a brave piece of TV blowing the whistle on those that work in that field. If you don’t like the show, then you’re burying your head in the sand. The lid is being lifted and out come the demons…