BACK ON THE BRIGHTON BEAT
John Simm returns as Peter James’s brilliant but troubled cop Roy Grace, battling crime along with his partner Glenn Branson in the seaside city
More than seven million viewers tuned in to watch John Simm (Life On Mars) make his debut as DSI Roy Grace (far left) on ITV last year. If you were wondering why a new series instantly became one of the highest rated shows, it means you’ve missed out on a publishing phenomenon – the many compelling page-turners by Peter James on which the show is based.
The original spark of inspiration came after the author was burgled in his Sussex home. When officers from his local police arrived, he got talking to them, grew increasingly curious about policing methods and in the coming years became more and more immersed in their work.
His extensive research led him to dream up DSI Grace, a brilliant but troubled sleuth solving murders in the colourful demi-monde of the seaside city of Brighton.
With the creation of his detective hero, James proved to be the luckiest victim of burglary in British criminal history, for the public just can’t get enough of Grace’s adventures.
The 17 books in the series have sold more than 20 million copies, and now Grace returns to the screen in a new four-part series.
Fans will be pleased to see that the feature-length stories follow the order of the books, all with ‘Dead’ in the title (the author’s trademark motif for his Grace stories). Coming up are Not Dead Enough (the third volume in the sequence), Dead Man’s Footsteps and Dead Tomorrow, all adapted by Endeavour creator Russell Lewis.
But this week’s opening episode is book two, Looking Good Dead (already available to BritBox subscribers). It begins with the discovery of the body of an exteacher in what seems to be a straightforward drugs overdose – but Grace has his suspicions, and it soon proves apparent that there’s far more to the case than meets the eye.
While Grace goes about his detective work, he uses unconventional methods that put him at loggerheads with his bosses, although he can always count on his partner DS Glenn Branson (Richie Campbell, left).
It’s not long before there are more murders – but also lives to be saved – until the tension reaches a nail-biting climax. Note the addition to the cast of Craig Parkinson, previously the villainous DI ‘Dot’ Cottan in Line Of Duty and now playing another officer, DS Norman Potting. Only time will tell if Parkinson’s latest copper character is to be trusted.