I’ll watch absolutely anything that has been penned by Jimmy McGovern. I mean, here’s a man that has contributed to some of my favourite dramas ever made. Cracker, The Lakes, Hillsborough and The Street (BBC One, Monday, 13 July, 9pm), which returned to our screens last night. The show has had a knack for getting actors on board that you immediately trust. In previous series, we’ve seen Jim Broadbent, Jane Horrocks, Sue Johnston, Gina McKee, Timothy Spall and David Thewlis. Last night, it was Bob Hoskins turn.

Related: More on The Street

Hoskins played reformed alcoholic Paddy, a landlord of the local boozer, ably backed by Frances Barber playing Lizzie, his wife. Shot through their eyes, McGovern weaves his magic of community rifts, salt-of-the-earth issues and broken noses. While most dramas tackle extra marital affairs and fanciful blackmail stories, McGovern sits this one square in the real world, revolving around someone smoking in the toilets.

Inauspicious as it seems, we were able to get lost in an incredibly believable maelstrom of trying to do the right thing, honour and a feeling of being owed something. As ever, in McGovern’s world, everything is three-dimensional and no party is clear-cut and wholly correct. I didn’t stop me taking sides however.

You see, McGovern speaks in a language that I understand more than any other TV writer. I’ve been tempted to think that it’s a way of communicating that only a Northerner would appreciate fully… a tongue peppered with casual swearing, slang and real heart. Conversations trip and ebb naturally in McGovern’s work. However, I’m now thinking that, apart from a few colloquialisms, these words are universally understood. McGovern is a writer that clearly still lives in the real world of grotty pubs, jacket spuds, nipping out for a fag and SBD’s.

Along with the team that made this show, who should all be commended, they’ve once again made show that you immediately immerse yourself into. The Devil is in the detail. Eagle-eyed viewers will have picked up on the gaffer tape on the pots of potato hash, the off-key karaoke, the scratched graffiti on the toilet walls, the “Don’t tut your father” line, the slightly distasteful GigantoTelly in the local villain’s front room and the familiar yells during the Sunday league footy.

Yet, in the thick of all this realism, the biggest topics of them all were tackled with studs showing. Last night’s show looked at pride and honour. When wounded, both of these things can made people make the most peculiar decisions. Taking a step back from the show (easier said than done), the whole scenario felt like an ancient parable. There was a certain Shakespearian quality to the way the two main characters paced around the build-up to the climactic punch-up.

For those who will be catching up with this show on iPlayer, I won’t spoil the ending, but rest assured, it was expertly executed and brought a wry smile to my face. There will invariably be those that bemoan this show for being unforgiving and gloomy, but that’s wide of the mark. Last night’s show had a couple of moments that brought up real, knowing laughs. At the close, there was a definite sense of justice being done, which flooded my heart with a fuzzy feeling, far removed from saccharine.

As ever in The Street, the whole cast did a wonderful job. Hoskins was incredibly believable and even Timothy Spall’s cameo was a joy to behold. That said, stealing the show on performance alone was Liam Cunningham who played local crook Tommy Miller, who seethed and threatened showing cracks and hidden weakness. His eyes can act the socks off the entire cast of every British soap combined.

It’s good to have The Street back on our screens. Miss it and miss out. Wonderful, brutal and provoking television. Get those Baftas ready.