Dept. Q, Netflix review - Danish crime thriller finds a new home in Edinburgh

★★★ DEPT Q, NETFLIX Danish crime thriller finds a new home in Edinburgh

Matthew Goode stars as antisocial detective Carl Morck

Netflix’s new detective-noir is a somewhat cosmopolitan beast. It’s written and directed by an American, Scott Frank, derived from a novel, Mercy, by the Danish crime writer Jussi Adler-Olsen, and set in Edinburgh (as well as other flavourful Scottish locations). There are plenty of Scots in the cast too, although it’s the very English Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey, The Crown etc) who takes the lead role of DCI Carl Morck.

Bergerac, U&Drama review - the Jersey 'tec is born again after 34 years

★★★★ BERGERAC, U&DRAMA Damien Molony boldly follows in the footsteps of John Nettles

Damien Molony boldly follows in the hallowed footsteps of John Nettles

They stopped making the BBC’s original Bergerac in 1991, so you can hardly complain that this reboot is premature. John Nettles became closely identified with the titular detective Jim Bergerac before he decamped to Midsomer, murder capital of the world, and has declared himself impressed with Damien Molony’s performance as the born-again sleuth (pictured below, Molony picks up the baton from Nettles).

An Interrogation, Hampstead Theatre review - police procedural based on true crime tale fails to ring true

 AN INTERROGATION, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Detective gets her man, but at what cost?

Rosie Sheehy and Jamie Ballard shine in Edinburgh Festival import

In a dingy room with dilapidated furniture on a dismal Sunday evening, two detectives prepare for an interview. The old hand walks out, with just a little too much flattery hanging in the air, leaving the interrogation in the hands of the up-and-coming thruster, a young woman investigating the disappearance of a young woman. Alone, with just a camera for company (we get the video feed also from hidden cameras too) she awaits the suspect for the showdown.

Ludwig, BBC One review - entertaining spin on the brainy detective formula

★★★ LUDWIG, BBC ONE Entertaining spin on the brainy detective formula

David Mitchell is a perfect fit for this super-sleuth

The latest incarnation of David Mitchell, TV actor, looks at first sight much like the familar one from Peep Show and Back. Not a pufflepant in sight. His only costume change for Ludwig is a pair of wire-frame spectacles. 

The Jetty, BBC One review - lowlife in a Northern town

★★ THE JETTY, BBC ONE Lowlife in a Northern town

Jenna Coleman stars in a dark tale of abuse and exploitation

Jenna Coleman seems to pick her roles with care, whether it’s Queen Victoria, the girlfriend of mass murderer Charles Sobhraj in The Serpent, or “occult detective” Johanna Constantine in The Sandman, but her antennae may have been a bit awry when she climbed aboard this one.

The Jetty is long on atmosphere and scenery but short on plausibility, and hammers away at its themes of abused women and abusive men so relentlessly that there’s not much room for anything else.

The Turkish Detective, BBC Two review - a bad business in the Bosphorus

★★ THE TURKISH DETECTIVE, BBC TWO A bad business in the Bosphorus

Barbara Nadel's Inspector Ikmen novels reach the screen

Any show making its debut in the midst of Wimbledon and the Euro-football, plus a spectacular performance by Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone, is likely to be gasping for air, and BBC Two’s ditzy new cop series didn’t so much charge out of the blocks as trip over them. Masterminded by Ben Schiffer, the eight-part series is based on Barbara Nadel’s Inspector Ikmen novels, which are much loved by their readers.

theartsdesk Q&A: Lucie Shorthouse is flying high with 'We Are Lady Parts' and 'Rebus'

An actor's progress from Cambridge Footlights to 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie', a female Muslim punk band and crime-fighting in Edinburgh

Lucie Shorthouse is enjoying some high-profile TV action with her roles in Channel 4’s We Are Lady Parts, about the adventures of an all-woman Muslim punk band, and in BBC One’s reincarnated Rebus.

Strike: An Uncivil War review - shame of the nation

★★★★★ STRIKE: AN UNCIVIL WAR How paramilitary policing broke the miners' spirit

How paramilitary policing broke the miners' spirit at Orgreave in 1984

Forty years later, they have haggard faces, grey hair if any, and sorrowful expressions tinged with incredulity at the outrages perpetrated against them. At one point, the burliest of them cries. One who struggled with drink and drugs says four of his colleagues committed suicide.

Rebus, BBC One review - revival of Ian Rankin's Scottish 'tec hits the jackpot

★★★★ REBUS, BBC ONE Revival of Ian Rankin's Scottish 'tec hits the jackpot

Richard Rankin makes a compelling debut as the unorthodox Edinburgh cop

The previous incarnation of Ian Rankin’s Scottish detective on ITV starred, in their contrasting styles, John Hannah and Ken Stott. For this Rebus redux, arriving nearly 25 years after the original first series began, screenwriter Gregory Burke has reworked the character as a younger Detective Sergeant, drawing on the spirit of Rankin’s original novels but with the author’s blessing to take the character somewhere new.

Blue Lights Series 2, BBC One review - still our best cop show despite a slacker structure

★★★★ BLUE LIGHTS SERIES 2, BBC ONE Still our best cop show despite a slacker structure

The engaging Belfast cops are less tightly focused this time around

The first season of Blue Nights was so close to police procedural perfection, it would be hard for season two to reach the same heights. Overall, it doesn’t, though there are still special moments.