Harry Price: Ghost Hunter, ITV / Homeland, Series 5 Finale

HARRY PRICE: GHOST HUNTER, ITV / HOMELAND, SERIES 5 FINALE Rafe Spall shows spook-busting promise, while 'Homeland' freezes the blood

Rafe Spall shows spook-busting promise, while 'Homeland' freezes the blood

Earlier this year, Sky Living showed The Enfield Haunting, a tale of eerie events in a 1970s council house. One of its stars was Timothy Spall, playing a paranormal researcher. Maybe he had a premonition that his son Rafe would carry on the family's supernatural tradition in the leading role of Harry Price: Ghost Hunter  (★★★★★).

Downton Abbey – The Finale, ITV

DOWNTON ABBEY - THE FINALE, ITV The end? Really?

The end? Really?

On Monday ITV showed BAFTA Celebrates Downton Abbey, in which a massed gathering of cast and crew plus a few celebrity guests toasted Downton's five-year stampede to global acclaim. Its creator Julian Fellowes waddled onstage and told an anecdote about how he'd been accosted by a Downton fan while browsing in a Barnes & Noble bookshop in New York. "Just let Edith be happy!" she wailed at him.

Luther, Series 4, BBC One

LUTHER, SERIES 4, BBC ONE A two-part series ain't big enough for Idris Elba's maverick detective 

A two-part series ain't big enough for Idris Elba's maverick detective

Some things never change. Once more, we join DCI John Luther – though only for a two-part special – as he glues himself to the trail of a serial killer. And once again Luther is played by Idris Elba, a man who can freeze time or make villains throw down their weapons merely by gazing into the camera with an expression of quizzical world-weariness.

The Last Kingdom, Series Finale, BBC Two

THEARTSDESK AT 7: THE LAST KINGDOM Saxon saga reaches bloodthirsty but satisfying climax

Saxon saga reaches bloodthirsty but satisfying climax

Though Alfred the Great was renowned for educational and social reforms as much as for whupping the Danes on the battlefield, I'd never pictured him the way David Dawson has been playing him in The Last Kingdom. Pallid and sickly-looking, and plagued by all-too-human frailties, this Alfred looked more like a weedy consumptive poet than the midfield dynamo of embattled Ninth Century England.

Jessica Jones, Netflix

JESSICA JONES, NETFLIX The superhero universe has gained another star

The superhero universe has gained another star

After the roaring success of Daredevil this year, Marvel brings us the next instalment in the TV rendering of their universe – or part of it at least. Jessica Jones, created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos in 2001, is a failed superhero and volatile PI who copes with her demons by drinking so heavily that at least one of her superpowers seems to reside in her liver. Super strength, near-flight and a fine line in withering sarcasm make up the rest.

Downton Abbey – The Last Episode, ITV

DOWNTON ABBEY - THE LAST EPISODE The final episode of the last series... and not quite all is revealed

The final episode of the last series... and not quite all is revealed

They said there'd never be an audience for a period drama about an aristocratic Edwardian family. Six series later, we're bidding adieu to a national (and indeed global) institution, as Julian Fellowes's motley band of ridiculous, ahistorical and frequently exasperating characters potter off into the fading TV sunset. There's still the Christmas special, but – though we might not admit it – we'll miss them.

Jekyll & Hyde, ITV / From Darkness, Series Finale, BBC One

JEKYLL & HYDE, ITV / FROM DARKNESS, SERIES FINALE, BBC ONE Charlie Higson rewrites Robert Louis Stevenson for the age of superheroes

Charlie Higson rewrites Robert Louis Stevenson for the age of superheroes

It's the age of the prequel, sequel and origin story, and the ingenious Charlie Higson has decided that now is the time to give Robert Louis Stevenson's divided-self myth a superhero-style makeover. Action-packed and a little bit shocking, this supercharged Jekyll & Hyde (****) has the makings of a major hit.

Homeland, Series 5, Channel 4

HOMELAND, SERIES 5, CHANNEL 4 It's back to taser the nerve-endings and ask uncomfortable questions

It's back to taser the nerve-endings and ask uncomfortable questions

Stunningly reinvented in series four, Homeland sustained the momentum with this tense and menacing fifth season opener. Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) has now quit the CIA for a new job in Berlin, where she's working as head of security for billionaire philanthropist Otto Düring (Sebastian Koch). The past, however, is not giving up without a fight.

Doctor Foster, Series Finale, BBC One

DOCTOR FOSTER, SERIES FINALE, BBC ONE Gripping melodrama reaches its conclusion

Gripping melodrama reaches its conclusion

Revenge dramas are such a guilty pleasure - there's a vicarious thrill in watching a baddie being taken down in a way that we might wish to, but never would, in real life. And boy, but did Gemma take down cheating husband Simon in the closing episode of Mike Bartlett's Doctor Foster. Senior GP Gemma and hip property developer Simon's perfect life, with their perfect house and their perfect son was, of course, anything but - and finally it all came crashing down.

From Darkness, BBC One

FROM DARKNESS, BBC ONE Is there room for another TV cop tormented by the past?

Is there room for another TV cop tormented by the past?

This is the first of two new TV series this week to feature a female police officer investigating the discovery of long-buried skeletons (the other one is Thursday's Unforgotten on ITV). The two shows are different in tone, but still reminiscent of numerous noir-ish policiers of recent vintage. It makes you wonder whether commissioning editors are trying hard enough. We hear a lot of earnest talk about "diversity", but it doesn't seem to apply to themes and subject matter.