The Gold, Series 2, BBC One review - back on the trail of the Brink's-Mat bandits

★★★★ THE GOLD, SERIES 2, BBC ONE Back on the trail of the Brink's-Mat bandits

Following the money to the Isle of Man, Spain and the Caribbean

The first series of The Gold in 2023 was received rapturously, though apparently it only told one half of the story of the 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery at Heathrow airport. Now screenwriter Neil Forsyth has returned to the scene of the crime to reveal what happened – or might have happened, since there’s a fair bit of artistic licence at play here – to the missing portion of the £26 million quid’s worth of stolen gold.

Dept. Q, Netflix review - Danish crime thriller finds a new home in Edinburgh

★★★ DEPT Q, NETFLIX Danish crime thriller finds a new home in Edinburgh

Matthew Goode stars as antisocial detective Carl Morck

Netflix’s new detective-noir is a somewhat cosmopolitan beast. It’s written and directed by an American, Scott Frank, derived from a novel, Mercy, by the Danish crime writer Jussi Adler-Olsen, and set in Edinburgh (as well as other flavourful Scottish locations). There are plenty of Scots in the cast too, although it’s the very English Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey, The Crown etc) who takes the lead role of DCI Carl Morck.

Fake, ITV1 review - be careful what you wish for

★★★★ FAKE, ITV1 Australian drama probes the terrors of middle-aged matchmaking

Australian drama probes the terrors of middle-aged matchmaking

The art of the conman is persuading their victim to fool themselves, which is the premise that lies at the core of this Australian drama series. 

MobLand, Paramount+ review - more guns, goons and gangsters from Guy Ritchie

★★★ MOBLAND, PARAMOUNT+ More guns, goons and gangsters from Guy Ritchie

High-powered cast impersonates the larcenous Harrigan dynasty

A year ago Guy Ritchie brought us the Netflix series The Gentlemen, and now here he is on Paramount+ with his latest romp through the verdant pastures of criminal low-lifery. It seems that top thespians are queueing up to bag a slice of Ritchie-world, and an impressive cast includes Pierce Brosnan, Tom Hardy and Helen Mirren.

Bergerac, U&Drama review - the Jersey 'tec is born again after 34 years

★★★★ BERGERAC, U&DRAMA Damien Molony boldly follows in the footsteps of John Nettles

Damien Molony boldly follows in the hallowed footsteps of John Nettles

They stopped making the BBC’s original Bergerac in 1991, so you can hardly complain that this reboot is premature. John Nettles became closely identified with the titular detective Jim Bergerac before he decamped to Midsomer, murder capital of the world, and has declared himself impressed with Damien Molony’s performance as the born-again sleuth (pictured below, Molony picks up the baton from Nettles).

An Interrogation, Hampstead Theatre review - police procedural based on true crime tale fails to ring true

 AN INTERROGATION, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Detective gets her man, but at what cost?

Rosie Sheehy and Jamie Ballard shine in Edinburgh Festival import

In a dingy room with dilapidated furniture on a dismal Sunday evening, two detectives prepare for an interview. The old hand walks out, with just a little too much flattery hanging in the air, leaving the interrogation in the hands of the up-and-coming thruster, a young woman investigating the disappearance of a young woman. Alone, with just a camera for company (we get the video feed also from hidden cameras too) she awaits the suspect for the showdown.

Blu-ray: Mikey and Nicky

★★★★★ BLU-RAY: MIKEY AND NICKY  Elaine May's edgy 1976 crime drama 

Elaine May's edgy 1976 crime drama deglamorises the gangster archetype

The blurb that accompanies this Criterion Blu-ray calls Elaine May’s Mikey and Nicky, which co-stars John Cassavetes and Peter Falk as scuzzy, low-ranking gangsters on the run from their bosses, “an unsung masterpiece of American cinema”. For once, that doesn’t feel like hyperbole.

Death in Paradise Christmas Special, BBC One review - who killed Santa Claus?

★★ DEATH IN PARADISE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, BBC ONE Don Gilet steps into the detective's shoes on the island of Saint Marie

Don Gilet steps into the detective's shoes on the island of Saint Marie

Though Death in Paradise is an Anglo-French production filmed in Guadeloupe, in the French West Indies, the Frenchness seems to have mysteriously leaked away. Where Sara Martins was a long-standing regular as DS Camille Bordey, and other French actors have rotated through the cast, the only glimmer of Gallicness remaining in this seasonal special was the vestigial presence of Elizabeth Bourgine as Catherine Bordey (Camille’s mum, pictured below with Danny John-Jules as Dwayne Myers).

Sujo review - cartels through another lens

A surprisingly subtle narco pic from Mexico

It’s not often we hear barely a single gunshot in a movie set amid Mexican drug cartels, but that may be the way it is for people who actually live amid Mexican drug cartels.

In Sujo, Mexico’s bid for the next foreign feature Oscar, we experience violence the way many who inhabit violent places actually experience it – mostly embedded in the fabric of life, only occasionally directly.