Tourist Trap: Has David Brent gone to Wales? Welcome to another world of soundbites (and toy sheep)

It doesn’t make sense. After spending all day in an office, wondering how I ended up here, I made a seemingly illogical choice.

I chose to fill my spare time with more desk-based drama, on TV. Was it a mild mutation of Stockholm syndrome? Or just testament to the power of situational comedy?

The Office, Alan Partridge and W1A were compulsive viewing because they were so painfully relatable, with familiar colleagues and observations of daily minutiae and catchphrases writ large.

And so to Wow! Wales. In BBC mockumentary Tourist Trap (not to be confused with the 1979 horror film of the same name), we follow the staff of this pioneering organisation as it attempts the challenge of selling the land of leeks and daffodils to the world.

Sally Phillips carries the show as Elaine Gibbons, CEO of Wow! Wales. The exclamation mark was Elaine’s idea. They didn’t know whether to put it after Wow or Wales but she thinks it’s the best thing she’s ever done.

Elaine mostly talks to us from her desk, which has an “I’m the boss” sign on it, along with the obligatory toy Welsh sheep. You suspect Elaine wouldn’t recognise an actual Welsh sheep if it ambled into her office. But she won’t let the fact that she hasn’t set foot in Wales for 47-and-a-half years get in the way of her ambition. Her step-grandmother was Welsh and Elaine can still repeat what she used to say to her, although she has no idea what it means. The subtitles say it’s “you little b****”. Oh Elaine.

The first episode revolves around the opening of a call centre. We meet Elaine’s colleagues in marketing, the corporate team and the Abersytwyth branch — look out for Ronni Ancona’s cameo later on in the series. The whole cast never appear together, giving it the feel of a set of sketches.

If you like The Office and The Thick of It, this should fill that gap of self-important people speaking in hollow soundbites. Choice comments include, “It’s our job to put Wales on the map. Not literally, because it’s already on most maps, unless they are very small”, and rebranding “going on a holiday” to “going on a Wales”.

They’re certainly ambitious, but as the resident techie tells us, they don’t like labels. He is called Nez, an abbreviation of Aneurin — he’s named after “the big man, Aneurin Bevan, absolute legend” — and is trying to create an app to track the Easter Bunny around Monmouthshire. Their tech expertise doesn’t extend to social media though — the hashtag #busheating (bus heating) lands them in trouble and has to be added to the banned hashtags list. It joins #RIMJobs, that’s recruitment in Monmouthshire, and #STD, St David’s Day, obvs.

You will learn about Wales, its male voice choirs and Catatonia, while the scenery is so beautiful that this show may, inadvertently, make you actually want to visit. Even better, it doesn’t rain all the time, says Elaine. That’s a myth, and she’s got a celebrity weatherman in to dispel it. She has a crush on him, which allows development of the tragic-comic lonely side of her character. She tells us she is aware that some say phone calls are outdated, “but sometimes you’ve finished your wine and dropped your magazine in the bath and just want to talk to a human”. The call centre staff talk a good game, selling their favourite Welsh car parks to callers, but then one girl cracks and admits she is saving for a holiday in Ibiza.

This show has gone straight to iPlayer, which is a shame as, like the place it represents, it deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible.

Pick of the day

Supergirl - Sky One, 8pm

At the end of its third season, Supergirl had defeated Reign, quelling the third extraterrestrial attempt to take over the planet. In advance of the fourth series, which debuts tonight, there has been much speculation about what new foes she will face.

Key to the new series is the rising tide of anti-alien sentiment. The show’s theme of hope versus fear will see Supergirl/Kara (Melissa Benoist) using her journalism as a force for change.

Her latest antagonist is Agent Liberty (Sam Witwer) and his group The Children Of Liberty, which is essentially a hate group.

The problem for Supergirl is standing up for hope, when she is herself an alien.

If all this sounds oddly topical, that’s no accident. The show’s creators have talked about their struggle with contemporary problems.

Most of the regular cast return, with notable additions. Jesse Rath joins as Brainiac 5/Brainy, April Jones plays Colonel Haley, and Nicole Maines steps up as Nia Nal/Dreamer, television’s first transgender superhero. She’s a precog, who can dream the future.

Screen time

My Dinner With Hervé - Sky Atlantic, 9pm

The big draw in this biopic of the actor Hervé Villechaize is Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage, who plucked his eyebrows and wore dental prosthetics to achieve a better likeness of the star of Fantasy Island and the Bond movie The Man With the Golden Gun.

The story is the pet project of journalist Sacha Gervasi, who was sent to interview Villechaize in 1993 and spent a week listening to his life story. Dinklage’s involvement helped overcome the reservations of many who viewed it as “a suicidal dwarf movie”, according to Gervasi.

The role of the journalist, a recovering alcoholic — now called Danny Tate — is played by Jamie Dornan. Dinklage does his best to honour the reputation of Villechaize, who killed himself at the age of 50.

Queensbury Boxing League - London Live, 10pm

Unlike a certain MMA fight where the main event became a brawl that spread outside the ring and into the front rows, the action here will be contained within the square.

In the second round of the History in the Making event there are several bouts across a range of weight divisions and even some title-belt showdowns.

Trust Me, I’m a Doctor - London Live, 9pm

There’s nothing more relaxing at the end of a long day than coming home, flicking on the TV on and having a well-earned stand-up.

That lovely bone-relieving slump could be doing you far more damage than it feels, wedged into that sofa and cushions, and Michael Mosley explores why a standing up should replace a sit-down. Reports say that standing affects our health in ways previously unknown, from how it aids our heart rate to influencing sugar levels, and that spending 12 hours off our feet could be very detrimental to our well-being.

Also this week, there’s some timely first-aid advice after last week’s drive to increase CPR awareness, as there’s a demonstration on how to help someone who’s choking.

Catch up

54 Hours - BBC iPlayer

This German two-part drama screened on BBC4 on Saturday. It dramatises the Gladbeck crisis of 1988, in which a bank raid went wrong and the robbers took hostages. They were pursued by police and followed by media over several days. Reporters interviewed hostages at gunpoint during the saga, which led to new rules about the coverage of such incidents. The show was hailed as a masterpiece by the German newspaper Bild.

Serial box

Luther - BBC iPlayer

Idris Elba’s Loofah is returning to BBC One soon, with four new episodes starring the unconventional detective. The new series promises sickening depravity under the moonless skies of London. Wunmi Mosaku will play DS Catherine Halliday, and Hermione Norris is a psychiatrist trying to help Luther solve a series of killings. Nice! And to whet our appetites, the first four series have been made available too.