Mayans M.C.

BBC2, 10.55pm Successful spin-offs are few and far between – not every Breaking Bad can spawn a Better Call Saul – but fans of Sons Of Anarchy have been relieved to find that the biker legacy has been kept in safe hands with the saga of the Mayans gang.

As the second season starts, EZ

(J.D. Pardo, near right) has long left his life as an Ivy League student behind and is deeply immersed in the dark world of drug dealing, and the violence that goes with it.

But as he and the other Mayans are reluctantly forced into a temporary alliance with ruthless American mercenaries,

EZ is forced to make life-or-death choices from which there’ll be no turning back.

Be warned: the violence is shocking almost from the off, but pay attention to the densely plotted events and you’ll be rewarded with an engrossing, if gloomy, study of utterly amoral outlaws. ★★★★★