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.

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.

This Town, BBC One review - lurid melodrama in Eighties Brummieland

★★ THIS TOWN, BBC ONE Lurid melodrama in Eighties Brummieland

Steven Knight revisits his Midlands roots, with implausible consequences

Industrious screenwriter Steven Knight has brought us (among many other things) Peaky Blinders, SAS: Rogue Heroes and even Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?, but This Town may not be remembered as one of his finest hours. Here, we find Knight revisiting his Midlands background for a story that begins in 1981, during Margaret Thatcher’s first term as Prime Minister. There’s rioting on the streets, unemployment is soaring and Bobby Sands is on hunger strike in Belfast.

Kin, Series 2, BBC One review - when crime dynasties collide

★★★★★ KIN, SERIES 2, BBC ONE Dublin becomes a war zone in Peter McKenna's addictive drama

Dublin becomes a war zone in Peter McKenna's addictive drama

The end of the first series of Kin found Dublin’s Kinsella crime family ridding themselves of bloodsucking drug baron Eamon Cunningham, but this was not an unalloyed blessing. As this second series opens, the Kinsellas are having to make new arrangements with the Batuks, the Turkish family who are the source of all the local drug supplies. Snag is, the Turks want the Kinsellas to repay Cunningham’s outstanding debt to them of €70m.

The Tourist, Series 2, BBC One review - an amnesiac Jamie Dornan explores his Irish roots

★★★★ THE TOURIST, SERIES 2, BBC ONE An amnesiac Jamie Dornan explores his Irish roots

The Williams brothers' twisty thriller brings it all back home

It was barely a month ago that screenwriters Jack and Harry Williams astounded viewers with Boat Story. Now they’re back with a sequel (or maybe just a continuation) of The Tourist, which debuted a year ago with its mind-bending story of the amnesiac Elliot Stanley (Jamie Dornan), who found himself all at sea in the Australian outback.

Best of 2023: TV

BEST OF 2023: TV How many streaming services are you willing to pay for?

How many streaming services are you willing to pay for?

TV viewers can hardly complain about a lack of choice these days, though they might baulk at funding an ever-lengthening list of subscriptions.

Murder Is Easy, BBC One review - was this journey really necessary?

★★ MURDER IS EASY, BBC ONE Dame Agatha's tidy thriller gets ideas above its station

Dame Agatha's tidy thriller gets ideas above its station

Well at least they haven’t changed the identity of the killer this time around, but the BBC’s new version of Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel has been modified in other ways. Screenwriter Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre and director Meenu Gaur have opted to move the story into the mid-1950s, introducing themes of racism, class prejudice and capitalist exploitation. And you thought it was just a tidy little whodunnit.

Vigil, Series 2, BBC One review - DCI Silva swaps a submarine for deadly drones

It's borrowed from real life but doesn't feel lifelike

In its first series in 2021, Vigil delivered a claustrophobic though frequently absurd tale of murder and Russian spies aboard a British nuclear submarine. This time around it’s the RAF under the spotlight, though its name has mysteriously been changed to the British Air Force.