Totally gripping crime saga

Before starring in this shady Russian underworld, slowcooking potboiler, James Norton (left) was widely touted as the next Bond.

After totally owning the part of conflicted Alex, son of a mafia boss, who is trying to be a straight businessman and avoid the family temptations, it was hard for many fans to see him in any other role.

The eight-part drama pulls no punches – whether it’s depicting the cruelties of sex trafficking (David Strathairn is excellent as a slimy profiteer) or the brutalities of the international underworld. And the series manages to keep the tension in Alex’s engagement to the increasingly suspicious Rebecca (Juliet Rylance) tightrope-taut right up until the final moment. And possibly beyond: it’s reported that a second series is in the pipeline. BBC iPlayer, available now