Radar: Bergerac (BBC)

Subscribe to my monthly newsletter here for all my latest writing.

Any misconception you may have had of Jersey as a sleepy tax haven for retirees will soon be dispelled after an episode of this new version of Bergerac. In it, a mother is murdered and a baby snatched from its cot in the night. I found this updated version of the 1981 original to be gripping from the start; it's a solid, well-crafted whodunnit, detective storyline with strong acting performances. And I've got to say the new Bergerac, Damien Molony, brings a quiet intensity to the role and is convincing throughout.

What do we look for in a detective series? A good storyline that keeps us guessing, good acting and all the usual detective tropes: a character with a past that won't let him go; some kind of addiction problem or substance abuse; difficulty forming close relationships; someone who's alienated from family; a car; long sweeping shots of a dramatic landscape. Bergerac has all of these things. It's like the meat-and-two-veg of detective fiction, but in this world of millions of box sets and so few of them actually watchable, the fact that Bergerac conforms to these tropes is more than welcome. It is so hard to find a decently made detective drama now, particularly one set in a rural setting, but Bergerac is one of them. And this drama, even if the ending was a bit predictable and recalled a recent episode of Beck, is proof that writers who stick to the forms and conventions of the genre, while tweaking and playing with them, will write programmes the viewers actually want to watch.

The setting of Jersey gives this drama another point of difference, and I only wish they'd made more of the landscape in this, with so much of it set in the police station or indoors, in general. Surely with Jersey being an island they could have made more of the cliffs and seascapes, no? Some critics have mentioned this iteration of the series lacks wit and entertainment, and I think this one is definitely more in the style of Nordic Noir than a kind of British detective caper, however it's a compelling watch from start to finish. Even if it may make you rethink your tax-efficient retirement plans.