What Remains (BBC, 2013)

Should I have taken note of the reviews that listed all the cliches this series had? A retiring detective. A now-dessicated corpse. Said retiring detective unwilling/unable to let go of said corpse's case.

Lead David Threlfall certainly held the attention - a great Brit TV face, a nice thoughtful stillness to him that communicates intelligence and steel. The supporting cast - a who's who of Brit TV including Russell Tovey, David Bamber, Indira Varma and Jessica Gunning - do a sterling job despite having roles that seemed to come straight out of Cluedo.

And the series in toto? Starts off as a kinda interesting spin on the reluctantly-retiring-detective trope that slides into two eps of He killed her - no, wait, she did it -, NO WAIT!, finished off by a a jaw-dropping final-quarter-hour climax that leaves you thinking, Where the fuck did that come from? (and not in a good way, either).

Fail.

Life of Crime (ITV, 2013)

Hayley Atwell, who made an impression as Peggy the indomitable English sidekick in Captain America and followed it up nicely as a dashing WW2 agent provocateur in Restless, carries this mini-series admirably over three eps and three (story) decades.

While writers Oliver Frampton and Declan Croghan's narrative is intriguing and suspenseful for the first two eps, a rushed resolution in the final ep leaves the audience with a "Was that all?" kind of feeling.

Oh what coulda bin.

Run (Channel 4, 2013)

Olivia Colman, Lennie James, Benedict Wong - familiar faces from Brit TV were here aplenty with some fresh ones, in this satisfying four-part series which pissed all over The Street of however many years ago.

A big-arse thank you to writers Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith - they wrote true, they wrote without punking out - and directors Charles Martin and Jonathan Pearson - for not doing slo-mo, close-focus, Tony-motherfuckin'-Scott director shit all over the goddamned place.

Watch it, yo.