The programme no-one can resist is back for a third series. TV critic Michael Hogan analyses the strange allure of channel 4’s Gogglebox

Watching other people watching TV – who’d have guessed that would be a cultural phenomenon? Yet that’s exactly the pitch for Channel 4’s cult hit Gogglebox. Its third series started last week and it’s now been promoted to the prime slot of 9pm on Friday.

When Gogglebox debuted one year ago, critics (myself included) sneered that the bottom of the reality barrel was being scraped. Yet such critics underestimated the fiendish genius of the format. A cross between The Royle Family, Harry Hill’s TV Burp and Big Brother, it’s compulsive, hilarious and heartbreaking. It captured viewers’ imaginations, saw ratings double from 800,000 to 1.5 million and became one of the most tweeted-about shows of 2013. Remake rights have been sold to China, Ukraine and America, where it will be called The People’s Couch.

Why we're glued to Gogglebox