TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY

Sky Atlantic, 9pm

Jodie Foster brings real star power to the fourth season of the HBO crime drama whose scintillating debut back in 2014 (with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson) was one of the high-water marks of the “prestige TV” era. The magic of that first run ebbed in seasons two and three but, happily, resurfacess a fourth time round in a gloriously weird six-part story (dropping weekly) that blends the offbeat charms of Fargo with the icy chills of early Scandinoir, plus a frisson of supernatural dread.

The setting – the snowbound town of Ellis, Alaska, 150 miles inside the Arctic Circle – is a character in itself, its wintertime permatwilight a perfect background for the spooky central storyline about a group of climate scientists who go missing en masse from a research station. Foster’s downbeat charisma, as local police chief Liz Danvers, is balanced by the forceful magnetism of Kali Reis (a world boxing champion turned actor), two women with a troubled past struggling to work together. In support, John Hawkes delights as Danvers’ subordinate, Hank Prior, and there’s a sprinkling of stellar Brits in the line-up, including Christopher Eccleston and Fiona Shaw.

Gerard O’Donovan allowing complex plots to play out at a suitable pace. This time, though, the opening hour feels like padding, keeping a flimsy storyline – involving a corpse washed up at Hammersmith Bridge – afloat until the livelier denouement. FA Cup replays mean that episode will be on next week – but available on the iPlayer tonight.

Jodie Foster and Kali Reis make for captivating company