THREE offerings for the autumn, all featuring murder most foul. It’s dangerous out there in crime drama land, dangerously crowded, which can tempt writers into going to ever more elaborate lengths to make their creations stand out - no matter how ridiculous the results.

Ridley (STV, Sunday) had Line of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar playing a retired detective called in to help solve the case of a murdered farmer.

In LoD, Dunbar’s Ted Hastings is known for his righteous indignation (hates bent coppers), and a slightly tragic air (wife dumped him).

Ridley, his wife and daughter dead, was an even sadder sack. Just in case the viewer didn’t pick up on this, sorrowful jazz accompanied almost every scene the character was in. Ridley also had a stake in a jazz club run by his late wife’s pal Annie (Julie Graham), and in that club he sang. Well of course he did.

It’s a wonder Ridley had any time for DI Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh), his replacement and a woman not too proud to ask her old boss for assistance, as you do.

Everything about this drama was by the numbers, from the tragedy-tinged central character to the angry police chief giving the hairdryer treatment to underlings. It tried to be novel (lesbian detective, jazz-lover, etc) but it has all been done before. It would matter less if there was more chemistry between Ridley and Farman, but we’re asked to believe the two are somehow close without any evidence as to why.

In new drama The Suspect (STV, Monday) the main character’s distinguishing feature was that he had just been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s Disease. Now that’s what I call niche (not to be confused with the similarly titled series of pop albums).

Dr Joe O’Loughlin was played by Aidan Turner, best known as the six-pack sporting, Demelza-worshipping scyther of Poldark fame. Joe, in contrast, was a bearded psychoanalyst who kept his kit on and looked as though he would not know one end of a scythe from the other.

The Suspect had the whiff of mince about it from the start. The tale opened with Joe, midway through a session with a patient, being called to an emergency. A young man was on a ledge, threatening to jump. “Our negotiator is on his way but he’s stuck in traffic,” said a cop, wondering if Joe could step into the breach. In a flash, Joe was out there on the ledge, breaking every health and safety regulation in the book on his way to becoming a hero.

By another series of laughably convoluted events, Joe was asked to assist in a murder investigation. He behaved so strangely, however (including sneaking back in for another look at the body) that he began to arouse suspicion. As a senior copper put it, was Joe a roof top hero or a sick killer?

Joe’s disability was used to explain his recklessness, impulsive behaviour sometimes being a side effect of the drugs used to treat the condition. Otherwise his Parkinson’s was conveniently reduced to a tremor in one hand, which Joe clutched in moments of stress, reminding me of Jim Carrey and The Claw.

I’d like to believe the use of Parkinson’s was an innovative way of raising awareness of the condition, rather than just another wheeling out of that tired old cliche, the disabled villain, whose outward flaws signify their inner turmoil. Think Captain Hook, Freddie Kruger, every Richard III there ever was. I’d also like to believe that The Suspect is not as awful as it seems. We shall see.

Now to something worth catching. In the first series of The Capture (BBC1, Sunday-Monday), we were introduced to the shadowy police department that “corrected” surveillance footage to make the evidence fit the crime. All for the public good, naturally. DCI Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger), having initially been appalled at such deep state/Minority Report shenanigans, decided to get on board.

The Capture was glossy nonsense in a Spooks meets The Undeclared War way, but the cast, led by Grainger and now with the equally watchable Paapa Essiedu as an ambitious government minister, is top notch. Plus, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Plus, Grainger has fabulous cheekbones and a flat to match.

University Challenge at 60 (BBC2, Monday) was a hoot. Famous for five minutes contestants, including Eric Monkman and Gail Trimble, were among the talking heads, as were Jenny Ryan and Mark Labbett, now stars of The Chase. While Paxman wasn't interviewed there was the thrill of seeing Roger Tilling, “the voice of University Challenge”, in the flesh. He and Paxman used to sit near each other on the set, but after a series of elastic band fights they were separated like naughty kids. Amol Rajan, you have big shoes to fill my friend.