Review: Rellik (S1 E2/6), Monday 18th September, BBC One

NB: SPOILERS INSIDE

Last week’s opening episode presented us with a tricksy and challenging viewing experience – Rellik’s story started at the end and worked backwards thanks to a series of rewinds and flashbacks. Many won’t have enjoyed this, and the jury was out for me, too. On the one hand, Rellik could be a daring, bold telling of what is a fairly by-the-numbers procedural story, that flips our consumption of information and clues on its head; or it could be based on a gimmick that doesn’t actually work. I still couldn’t decide which side it fell on after this second episode.

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Review: Strike – The Silkworm (S2 E2/2), Sunday 17th September, BBC One

NB: SPOILERS INSIDE

Set in the cut-throat world of publishing, one with which writer/exec producer JK Rowling must be familiar, The Silkworm is a murder mystery with a twist – all the suspects are featured in the victim’s final novel. But which character represents the killer?

Strike to return in 2018 with Career Of Evil

We’ll be bringing you our review of the second part of Strike – The Silkworm in due course, but there’s news out of the BBC that Tom Burke will return next year as Strike in Strike – Career of Evil as the war veteran turned private detective operating out of a tiny office in London’s Denmark Street. It’ll be the third adaptation of Robert ‘JK Rowling’ Galbraith’s Strike novels.

The 10 Best Crime Dramas This Week (Monday 18th – Sunday 24th September)

It’s pretty much as you were this week, with lots of continuing series – Rellik, Liar, Black Lake et al – that will rumble on for a few weeks yet. There is one new series – the first ever Chilean series to appear on British television. Fugitives will debut on Channel 4 but will then, I’m pretty sure, head on over to Walter Presents. Enjoy!

Review: Black Lake (S1 E1&2/8), Saturday 16th September, BBC Four

NB: SPOILERS INSIDE

Ah, the comforting tones of the Swedish language on an autumn Saturday night. We’ve had umpteen Scandinavian crime dramas in the 9pm slot on BBC Four in the past, and, as the nights are drawing in, we’re once again transported to a snowy, barren, beautiful land, way up in the north of Sweden on the border with Norway. And this feels immensely comforting to me – the landscape, the language, the furniture (my god, the furniture) and that unique way so-called Nordic Noir has with characterisation and story. Blake Lake (Svartsjön), however, is no procedural – we’ve heard that BBC Four, in particular, was on the lookout for something a bit different from the usual Nordic Noir, and Black Lake certainly does provide that.

Netflix hires The Bridge writer to adapt Malin Persson Giolito’s Quicksand

Global streaming behemoth, Netflix, has been looking outside the US for inspiration recently, signing up series like Bordertown (from Finland) and Lava Field (from Iceland) to add to its enormous catalogue. It has also commissioned its very own series from countries like Poland and Denmark, and now it has released news that it’s about to produce its very first Swedish-language drama series. And, wouldn’t you know it… it’s a thriller.

AMC picks up Snatch for broadcast in the UK

Snatch, the TV series based on Guy Ritchie’ loathsome 2000 movie, debuted on Sony Pictures’ streaming service in the US back in March, and it boasted a decent cast – Luke Pasqualino, Rupert Grint, Dougray Scott, Vincent Regan, Phoebe Dynevor… the list goes on. Despite poor reviews (quelle surprise), the 10-episode series has finally found a British home.