With the winter nights still long and cold, comfort viewing is the order of the evening. Meeting this need like a nice but slightly watery shop-bought Lancashire hot pot is feature-length, made for TV drama Just Henry. 

Based on the book by Goodnight Mister Tom author Michelle Magorian, and set in the aftermath of the Second World War, this coming-of-age tale sees Henry (Josh Bolt) leave his childish ideals behind him, uncover the mystery surrounding his war hero father’s death and fall in love to boot. Although the budget is pretty low, there’s still a lovely sense of time and place thanks to scenes at the pictures and the conviction with which most of the characters are played.

Josh Bolt is particularly good, likeable and believable, carrying the tale along, while Barbara Flynn is also excellent as his super-teacher, Mrs Beaumont. Surprisingly, Sheila Hancock is disappointing as the rather two-dimensional, crotchety Gran but she makes more effort as the mystery unfolds. With regards to that mystery, sadly, what starts out as nostalgic, feel good entertainment turns rather ridiculous towards the end.

The pace speeds up and it turns into something of a thriller, before going over the top with a ludicrous and low-budget bit of running about on roofs. But the piece is then rounded off nicely and, if you can suspend your disbelief for long enough to make it through the daft ‘action’ scenes, the feel-good glow returns.

This is classic family teatime TV and certainly worth a watch on a gloomy night.