What to watch
THE BAY ITV1, 9pm
The fourth series of The Bay opens with a nightmare scenario. Through a window, mother-of-four Beth (Victoria Elliott) spots an intruder in the garden. Thinking it’s a burglar, she heads downstairs, only to find the house ablaze. Panicking, she makes sure that the children get outside to safety, before heading back inside to rescue the family dog; but she has misjudged how fast the fire
has spread, and she finds herself trapped, screaming, on the top floor. By the time family liaison officer DS Jenn Townsend (Marsha Thomason) arrives on the scene, it is being treated as a murder case. But why would anyone want to target an ordinary family? As is characteristic of The Bay, its focus stays with the bereaved. Jenn, now firmly settled in the role as a replacement for Morven Christie’s Lisa Armstrong,
relocates the family with an armed guard, although grows increasingly frustrated with widowed husband Dean (Joe Armstrong), who isn’t reacting in the way she expects. Prioritising character over action is an admirable approach, but this series’ story isn’t quite engaging enough yet to overcome a ponderous pace. Time will tell if the answers are worth the wait.