An extremely tall detective story

HIGH Richard Osman

If ITV is looking for a new detective duo to fill the hole left by Broadchurch’s Hardy and Miller, I think I may have found a solution.

Richard Osman from Pointless and his fellow giant Tom Davis from BBC3’s superb celebrity sleuthing series Murder In Successville.

Boasting a combined height of just over 13ft, they teamed up for Successville’s third series opener – and it was like they had been working together for years.

If a crime busting spin-off called High & Mighty is not already being planned in TV land, then I want to know why.

For those of you who haven’t yet sampled the bizarre charms of Successville’s fantasy celebrity world, now would be a good time to get on board – especially as the BBC has finally had the good sense to screen it on proper telly in the same week it launches online (BBC1, Saturday, straight after Match Of The Day)

The premise is simple enough. Davis plays DI Sleet, Successville’s premier homicide detective. Each week, his boss Chief Gordon Ramsay (an incredible impression from Liam Hourican) delivers an actual celebrity for Sleet to train up. Along the way they meet various celebrity residents as portrayed by some of the finest comedy impressionists on the circuit - Jamie Demetriou’s gently savage take on One Direction’s Zayn Malik was the latest belter.

Sleet’s sidekicks are always well-chosen – in the past these have ranged from Deborah Meaden to Dermot O’Leary to Emma Bunton.

The deal is simple enough: Throw yourself into Davis’s crazy improv world and he will make you look like the funniest person in the room.

In the last series, his magic even worked on former TOWIE twonk Mark Wright.

And if that doesn’t prove Davis is a comedy genius, nothing will. MIGHTY Tom Davis