This summer brought season two of the hit series The Farage Riots to our screens.

The new series aired relentlessly on all the major news channels. As the nation continued to scroll through online shopping apps on their phones, reporters came in their pants with excitement as cheap tracksuit-wearing football fans set about burning down their own houses and booking themselves a two-year holiday at one of His Majesty’s theme parks.

One has to question the decision to set the rioting in Belfast. When it comes to staging a riot, the Northern Irish are amongst the best in the world. The rise in the American Riot Tour dollar economy shows how dystopian wasteland tourism can be a real revenue generator. This makes it easy to see why Belfast is the logical place to set off a race riot. You can’t beat free advertising.

Having watched decades of Belfast rioting, the viewer comes to appreciate the quality of the work. News and documentary makers have captured the human story behind the headlines. The use of burning buses, the inventive array of missiles and the dance between rioters and the security service as they swayed back and forward like the tide washing through a flooded village add to the drama.

This time, the show seemed more performative than motivated by real malice. Oh yes, bad things happened, don’t get me wrong, but we didn’t care. This may be because the initial response was “It’s just Belfast rioting again.” This is probably true. It may have played better to a global audience.

The numbers involved were low, the incident occurred in a small area, and the security services were reluctant to become involved. You can see why Temu and Vinted were more interesting than watching the rioting.

Unlike last year’s English-language series The Farage Riots, this one lacked humour. There were no shots of rioters being hit in the testicles with a brick, or failing to start a fire with wood, petrol and a flame thrower. There was an over-reliance on wheelie bins, but these aren’t great for throwing; they tend to drag along the ground.

It was odd that the one house they did set fire to belonged to a Northern Irish man and not an immigrant. A classic cock-up in casting, but the reporters glossed over the comedy element. A chance missed.

They have also downplayed Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick’s unique contribution to the rioting. One was the Home Secretary, and one was the Minister for Immigration when they let in the refugee, whose actions allowed Farage to kick off season 2.

As for the man himself, well, since kicking off this summer’s rioting, he has been very quiet. A short speech trying to big up the numbers involved, a failure to condemn the race rioters for trying to destroy their community, and the usual rubbish about how Britain has fallen. Perhaps the lack of drama comes from Farage himself. He has been weighed down by allegations about his taxes, Russian financing and his links to Trump. Maybe his heart really isn’t in it, and the actors know this.

One area of genuine amusement is watching the reporters trying to avoid labelling the Farage Riots as race riots. The linguistic gymnastics are a pleasure to listen to.

Let’s hope for better things in series 3.

The Farage Riots can be seen on all the major news channels until something about Starmer inevitably distracts them.