The second instalment of Anne Frank’s seminal tale of Nazi-occupied Amsterdam opened with her father unblocking the toilet. Unfortunately he’d left it rather too long before attempting the unsavoury task, with the result that he was having to pull out several bags-worth of excrement with his bare hands. Not exactly what I was expecting to see as I swallowed the last mouthful of my evening meal, so thanks for that BBC! Still, it did provide a more-than-graphic reminder of the intense privations of life in the Frank annexe. Fortunately, some of the rest of this episode concentrated on the more positive aspects of A Life Enclosed.

Such as the weekly bathing ritual, which is completed on Saturday when the factory is empty and involves each of the incarcerees carrying their tin bath to a different part of the building in order to enjoy some small element of privacy and originality. This all seemed a bit pointless to me, but what do I know of such restrictions? With so little to occupy their time, I guess it’s not surprising they would dream up such fanciful ways to inject some interest into the monotony of life.

Relations with the van Daan family became even more strained, especially with the overbearing and opinionated Petronella van Daan. Fortunately for Anne, her father sticks by his child-rearing principles and puts Mrs van Daan firmly back in her place. Later, Anne demonstrates a rare sympathy for the van Daans as she learns their home has been ransacked and plays a pivotal part in keeping the unwelcome news from them.

The reality of war is brought home to the group even more forcibly one night when an air raid comes uncomfortably close to their refuge, shaking the dust from the rafters and sending Anne running for the safety of her father’s bed.

Later, conditions in the hideaway become even more cramped as they accept another Jewish man, Mr Dussell (Nicholas Farrell), into the fold. Having believed herself free of the obligation to visit the dentist Anne finds to her horror that the dentist has come to live with them and, worse, she has to share a bedroom with him.

After living in a constant state of fear for several weeks, the annexe-dwellers are terrified to hear footsteps in the attic above them one night. Believing the Germans have climbed in through the roof, Peter bravely volunteers to investigate, only to find the room infested with very large rats.

So far I’m enjoying this early-evening dramatisation of Anne Frank’s account. Based on the unabridged diary – a first among the many dramatic retellings of her story – the story wells up from her own words, concentrating on her relationships with her family and the other occupants of the annexe, her hopes and fears, likes and dislikes, and the grim reality of life for eight people in such a cramped space. It is not high drama – by definition it can’t be – but it is quintessentially “real” and that’s a rarity which I’m finding very refreshing.