Can't comment on the programme as I stopped watching after a couple of minutes. I have never taken to R-T as I can't take his chip-on-shoulder attitude. I always feel he didn't have to act too hard in his famous role in the Royle Family.
My maternal ancestry has strong Liverpool connections, and one or two in the tree had menial jobs in the docks or round about. Others were more middle-class - maybe I take after them

But having lived within 15 miles of there for nearly 50 years, I remember the 70s and 80s when the place was not often out of the news for some reason or other. Colleagues of mine used to comment that high unemployment in Liverpool was no surprise - many were unemployable. Things have improved a lot, but R-T still won't bury the hatchet.