WHAT TO WATCH THE BAY

ITV, 9pm

Sometimes I think that the most enjoyable thing about the second series of ITV’s crime drama is its haunting soundtrack, which perfectly captures the show’s bleak atmosphere. That’s perhaps unfair to Daragh Carville’s crime drama, which has been consistently strong in characterisation and notable for the way in which it depicts Morven Christie’s embattled family liaison officer as a rounded human being rather than a woman defined by her dedication to the job. Morecambe

Bay does a credible effort, too, at standing in for the more usual moody pineforests and rainy headlands of Scandi-noir.

We’re at the halfway point this week and various chickens are beginning to come home to roost. In true Agatha Christie fashion just about every member of the squabbling Marshbrook family appears to have something to hide, from affairs to illicit work deals and, with the pressure mounting, those secrets are threatening to spill bloodily everywhere.

The entwined storylines of the Marshbrooks and the return of DC Lisa Armstrong’s ex are also well done. That said it’s ultimately hard not to feel that this is going to boil down to two things: money and property. People have killed for less. Sarah Hughes with it and leading to long nights on the farms. In the Lake District, Matt and Dani Blair have “lambs coming out of our ears” with over a thousand to deliver. Meanwhile in Northumberland, Emma and Ewan Gray continue to train their recalcitrant bull ahead of sale.

Morven Christie stars as the put-upon Lisa Armstrong