Jake Wallis Simons reviews Repo Man, the first part of a Channel 4 documentary series which follows bailiff Sean James as he confronts people across the UK who fail to keep up their repayments.

Sean James isn’t the sharpest tool in the box. But he’s built like a brick lavatory, which is what matters. And he has oodles of what my grandfather used to call “native cunning”. Which makes him the perfect Repo Man (Channel 4). James is the antihero who tracks you down, day or night, and repossesses your belongings on behalf of the “finance companies”. He’ll drive your car away. He’ll rip out your cooker from the wall. He’ll hide around a corner until you come along, then spring out in a black paramilitary uniform. Think removal man meets the Punisher. Last night we were introduced to Sean and his sidekicks, such as Reece Jones, a 25-year-old part-time scaffolder, Marcus Portman, a heavily tattooed, retired boxing champion. We gasped as they snatched the car keys out of the hands of a sobbing lady (“that went well, dinnit?”); wrestled a young car owner – or erstwhile car owner – to the floor (“walk away or you’re going to get hurt”); and, in quieter moments, reflected on the state of the nation (“Hand out Britain, innit? Don’t make you proud to live here any more”).....Read more here