Benjamin Constant, the Swiss political philosopher active in the decades after the French Revolution, might have had Boris Johnson in mind when he wrote that “nearly all men are obsessed with demonstrating they are something more than they are”.

Keeping Ireland Alive: The Health Service in a Day airs on RTÉ One at 9.35pm on Monday.

Your guide to tonight's TV.

Jean-Marc Vallee’s history lesson concentrates on the year prior to Victoria’s coronation when the young queen (Emily Blunt) is at the mercy of her mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson) and scheming advisor Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong).

A row erupted in the Ulster Unionist Party tonight after David Trimble was accused of exacerbating internal divisions in the wake of the second act of IRA decommissioning.