Of course, the music and the writing of these works ­elevate “morbid and depressing” events on to an artistic plane. But, in a very different way, the forthright Jeremy Kyle — aided by a skilled array of therapeutic professionals — also shines a light into the heart of darkness. The results are often intensely moving: the bravery of children bringing long-absent fathers to book is rewarded; overwhelming reconciliations are effected; the inarticulate are given voice; the desperate are offered a lifeline.

Occasionally, there are unforgettable confrontations. When a taciturn 16-year-old was forced on to the show by his grandmother to explain why he had joined a violent street gang, he found himself gently lectured, from amid the studio audience, by the extraordinarily dignified mother of a 15-year-old boy murdered by a gang as he ­cycled through a park.

Yes, the context is vulgar — obese, misshapen, foul-mouthed, amoral human beings exchange hostilities in between naff advertisements for the programme’s bingo-company sponsor. Yes, the drama is exploited — guests are kept in suspense, as if in a quiz-show, for DNA results to show whether or not some confused or wretched man is the father of an unacknowledged child.

Nevertheless, The Jeremy Kyle Show has a consistent underlying morality: amid the debris of the family relationships it uncovers, the interests of young children are unfailingly paramount; and those who are courting ­despair are always guided towards a constructive engagement with life.

So no, it’s not “human bear-baiting”. The show may not be to the liking of high court judges, TV critics and others blessed with more than “limited intellects”, but then there’s always the opera.