Season two of Hinterland starts on Sunday – will you be watching?

The second series of the Welsh crime drama Hinterland (or Y Gwyll to give it its proper name), starring Richard Harrington as DCI Tom Mathias, will be premiered on Welsh channel S4C this Sunday (Sunday 13th September). It’s one of the best British crime dramas out there. There isn’t anything new or revolutionary about it, but it’s a first-rate, atmospheric procedural that’s well played by its main cast. With the west coast of Wales, and the town of Aberystwyth, as its base there’s everything you want from a modern procedural (moody, tortured lead detective, excellent partner, grisly cases, incredible scenery…). And now it’s back.

ITV recommissions Safe House for a second season

I was a bit lukewarm towards Safe House – the four-part ITV thriller from earlier this year. There was no denying it had all the ingredients (a good writer in Michael Crompton, a fine cast including Christopher Eccleston, Marsha Thomason and Paterson Joseph, and an atmospheric backdrop in the Lake District), and there was even an interesting thriller set-up that could be reused for multiple series – a remote guest house in the Lake District, more or less surrounded by water, and run by an ex-copper with skeletons in his closet, welcoming a new family-in-hiding in each series. What could go wrong? For whatever reason, things just didn’t click. I was taken to task by Michael Crompton (a writer I admire) over my reviews, but I was hardly the only one who was ambivalent towards the series. Anyway, whatever I and other’s thought, it rated well and ITV is giving it another run with all the main stars returning.