Review: From Darkness (S1 E1/4), Sunday 4th October, BBC1

(C) BBC – Photographer: Nicola Dove

This new four-part series – penned by Kate Baxendale – stars Anne-Marie Duff as an ex-copper who left it all behind to go and live a peaceful new life in the Western Isles of Scotland. British crime drama, especially, seems to have split into two factions these days – the light, traditional procedural and the the Scandinavian, psychological version. The latter is darker, both in palette and subject matter, and From Darkness, as the name suggests, has its feet firmly planted in the Scandi-style camp. Which is all well and good, but there’s a real sense now that this burgeoning, fairly new sub-genre has its own set of rules, conventions and now clichés. Rules, conventions and clichés that From Darkness almost gleefully ticks off as it goes along.

Review: Beck (E4/5), Saturday 3rd October, BBC4

Because of the rather piecemeal way this series is being shown, when the first episode aired I was moaning about how Beck looked dated; now the Beeb is showing the final few episodes The Invasion looked all too de nos jours for comfort as the plight of migrants in Sweden’s black economy is thrown into heartbreaking relief.