A striking success

STRIKE – THE CUCKOO’S CALLING BBC1, 9pm WE’RE into the second part of this drama based on the book by Robert Galbraith – aka JK Rowling – which follows private detective Cormoran Strike.

And the best compliment we can pay it so far is that Strike (Tom Burke) and assistant Robin (Holliday Grainger) already feel like familiar, well-rounded characters.

There’s nothing particularly original about a damaged detective with a dark past and a drink problem.

Or a male/female detecting duo with a hint of ‘will they won’t they’ tension. But there’s a quality and depth to this that makes it feel different and new. Strike is investigating the death of model Lula Landry. The police claim she jumped from her flat balcony, but her adoptive brother John is convinced she was murdered.

Although he seems incredibly suspect himself, if you ask us.

And not just because the posho calls his elderly mother “mumsy” and gives way too much detail about what they were up to the night Lula died.

He’s keen for Strike to examine CCTV from outside the flats.

But first the PI has to figure out why Lula’s neighbour Tansy changed her story about hearing a second person that night, who it could have been, and how they got in and out.

Although it’s not all work, work, work. There’s also time for an assignation with Lula’s model mate Ciara.

Meanwhile, Robin – who’s shown herself to be incredibly gifted at accents – has to decide whether to take the swanky new job she’s been offered or stick with Strike.

Who sleeps in his office and who she has to divert from drunken rants in the pub.

Easy choice, right?

WILL THEY? Robin and Strike