No Offence, Channel 4, 9pm
Second instalment of Channel 4's new eight-part police procedural from Paul Abbott, writer of ace political thriller State Of Play. It's notable, too, for handing a rare non-comedy lead role to Getting On's Joanna Scanlan as Detective Inspector Vivienne Deering. Or kind of a non-comedy role anyway: there are those who are billing this as a black comedy of sorts and of course Paul Abbot's other notable creation - Shameless - wasn't exactly short of crude belly laughs. This is equally ribald, with Scanlan playing Deering as a foul-mouthed but brilliant officer, though there are elements of Happy Valley to it as well, particularly in its depiction of the home life of Deering's trusty sidekick, DC Dinah Kowalska (the ever watchable Elaine Cassidy).
In last week's opening episode, Kowalska realised there was a serial killer on the loose targeting girls with Down's Syndrome and that a missing girl, Cathy Calvert, might be the killer's third victim. She also missed out on promotion when a murder suspect she chased while she was drunk ended up going under a bus. The episode ended with Deering, Kowalska and the team tracking the "perp" to a dockside warehouse where he escaped just after throwing a bound Calvert into the canal. Kowalska saved her, and instead of handing her over to social services took her back to the home she shares with her Polish mum and 10-year-old daughter.
In tonight's episode, Deering risks losing the case to a rival investigating team headed by the man she refers to as Obama: her hated boss, Detective Superintendent Darren Maclaren (Colin Salmon). Meanwhile, a dangerous new drug has hit the streets that causes users' organs to start liquefying and there's an excellently funny opening scene in which Deering and Kowalska go for a bonding session in a spa. You'll need to know what a "happy finish" is to really get the joke, though. Good stuff - doubly so for the presence in the cast of the wonderful Paul Ritter as weirdo forensics guy Randolph Miller, barely recognisable from his role as camp spy Bobby Waterhouse in this week's other top-notch drama, BBC Two's The Game.
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