IAN HYLAND

on last night’s telly

Wild Bill, ITV ★★★

As you may have noticed, ITV went a little billboard crazy with this new series starring Hollywood dreamboat Rob Lowe.

He was also on so many ITV daytime programmes yesterday I was half-expecting Rob to be announced as the stand-in for The Jeremy Kyle Show.

I hope the investment pays off. However, on the basis of last night’s opener, I’m not quite sure what all the fuss is about. I don’t even agree with ITV’s breathless proclamation that Wild Bill is “crime drama like you’ve never seen before”.

Let’s examine the evidence.

1. Police force gets a new boss from out of town - in this case an American (Lowe) in Boston, Lincolnshire – and the locals aren’t happy about it: CHECK!

2. Policeman is hiding a dark secret that could ruin his career: CHECK!

3. Policeman has an unusual and/ or problematic home life: CHECK!

4. Police officers appear to be in bed with organised crime: CHECK!

5. A female (well, obviously) murder victim’s severed head is discovered in a freezer: CHECK! Fair’s fair, though – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a top policeman copping a massive strop and throwing cabbages like a bad loser on Crackerjack.

The truth is, once you take away the excitement of Rob Lowe, right, being involved – and it is pretty exciting – Wild Bill is essentially Heartbeat or Midsomer Murders with dark humour and swearing thrown in to justify the timeslot. Nothing wrong with that.

I can’t see it troubling Line Of Duty or Luther at the BAFTAs, though…