Anna Friel returns to TV in the brilliant Marcella

ITV, MONDAY 19 FEBRUARY, 9PM

Two years ago, crime drama

Marcella became an instant hit for ITV – and no wonder. Not only was it a juicy star vehicle for Anna Friel – as a detective who happens to suffer from sudden, seemingly stress-induced blackouts or “fugues” – it also had the eye-catching premise from Nordic noir writer Hans Rosenfeldt (The

Bridge) that Marcella thought she may have committed a violent crime, all while a dark serial killer storyline played out.

This time, the cunning twist to the initial crime being investigated is that Marcella has a personal connection to the victim. The body of a young boy is discovered inside a wall in a house, clothed in a school blazer and surrounded by soft toys. Marcella immediately realises he’s schoolboy Leo Priestley, who was abducted a few years previously and was a friend of Marcella’s son, Edward.

While Marcella works with her detective colleagues, including Tim (Jamie Bamber), who’s now her boss and lover, on this single case, we meet a gaggle of other characters who may or may not be connected to the central crime. There’s Phil Dawkins (Peter Sullivan), a previously convicted child abuser; Reg Reynolds (Nigel Planer), a retired rock star who owns a flat next door to where the boy’s body was found; his dodgy manager (Keith Allen); Vince (Jason Hughes), an exploitative businessman; his wife Maya (Victoria Smurfit); plus Eric, a troubled employee of theirs with family issues.

The boldly unsettling opener is even darker and more disturbing than series one, and you’ll be desperate to find out how it all fits together. Boyd Hilton