Never Mind was the first of Edward St Aubyn's five Patrick Melrose novels to be published. As it tells of the formative trauma in Patrick's life, this makes chronological sense, but you can also see why the producers of the TV adaptation decided to lead with Bad News. Aside from putting Benedict Cumberbatch front and centre, it was a more accessible entry point to the series, and diluted the grim opulence with plenty of comedy.

The second episode prompted fewer laughs but it was no less compelling. At its heart was the act of unspeakable evil from which the story draws its power. We saw only glimpses of the adult Patrick, delirious with cold turkey, shivering in the back seat of a car or in bed at home. In the depths of his suffering he remembered a childhood holiday to the south of France, where his father David (Hugo Weaving) and mother Eleanor (Jennifer Jason Leigh) played host at their house in Lacoste. Like every property in the series it was a gorgeous hell, beautifully shot, bathed in sunlight but bereft of warmth.

Hugo Weaving as David Melrose credit: Sky

The novels are notably autobiographical. St Aubyn has said of his father that "he had a small canvas, but he was as destructive as he could be. If he’d been given Cambodia, or China, I’m sure he would have done sterling work". From an upstairs window, clad in a dressing gown and slippers, David terrorised all below. Friends, family and staff tiptoed around him, betrayed by creaking floorboards. In one scene he simply stared down at the housekeeper, Yvette, while she held a tray of crockery. Its terrible rattling grew louder and louder, filling the still courtyard.

Although the odd vowel frayed at the edges, Weaving was excellent, especially during the long silences. With twitches and smirks he showed us just how much he enjoyed the suffering he caused, but also suggested the odd pang of conscience. It would have been easy to play David as inhumane, but he was all the more terrifying for the faint rays of light we saw beneath his furrowed patrician brow.

Yvette with the young Patrick (Sebastian Maltz) credit: Sky

Nor was he the only villain. Aside from the blameless Yvette and the abused young Patrick (Sebastian Maltz, very good), the visitors to the house were various shades of awful. Particularly bad was Nicholas Pratt (Pip Torrens), David's vain and lecherous schoolfriend. Their dinner conversation was not a good advertisement for Eton. "What one aims for is ennui," David proclaimed at last. Pratt agreed. Everyone else got up to leave.

Holliday Grainger as Bridget Watson Scott credit: Sky

Bridget Watson Scott (Holliday Grainger), Pratt's ghastly floozy, summoned a friend to rescue her. He didn't show up. She trudged back to the house past Eleanor, slumped in her car, half-comatose from pills and booze. "You see, it's not as easy as you think," she drawled. Such a weight of cruelty creates its own kind of gravity.

Patrick Melrose is shown on Sky Atlantic, Sundays at 9pm. Or watch with a two week free trial of the NOW TV Entertainment Pass