Scott and Bailey

Series three, episode seven
Increasingly, ‘Scott and Bailey’ is in danger of giving generic police procedurals a good name. This series doesn’t break any moulds. It just does the conventional things better than most. The titular relationship is strongly drawn, therefore its implosion feels more realistic. The performances are better – Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp excel, but the under-used Amelia Bullmore is superb as shrewd, buttoned-up DCI Murray. And it’s convincingly character-driven – the cases feel like incidental adjuncts to the main drama which is, of course, Scott and Bailey’s relationship.

Tonight, things have got very bad indeed. The pair still work together but barely talk unless it’s to snipe or sneer. And even as Bailey’s personal problems threaten to overwhelm her work, she still gets a professional result – but it’s rendered more or less irrelevant by what’s revealed in the closing stages. Tomorrow’s series-closer should be well worth tuning in for.