Haven’t we seen you before, detective?

Jesus, Mary and the wee donkey – Line Of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar is back playing a cop. But this one is nothing like AC-12’s Ted Hastings... RIDLEY Sunday, ITV, 8pm

As Chief Superintendent Ted Hastings in Line Of Duty, he was the epitome of the stubbornly unbending yet heroic police officer. Now Adrian Dunbar takes the lead role in a new detective crime thriller – but don’t expect to see him back in uniform. Alex Ridley (Dunbar, above with Shetland’s Julie Graham) was a detective inspector but is now retired from his force in rural northern England.

He’s an old-fashioned kind of character with a penchant for jazz and vinyl records, but rather than happily enjoying his hobbies on his pension, his life is blighted by tragedy after the death of his wife and daughter.

Still, he’s lured away from his maudlin existence whenever his successor and former colleague on the force, DI Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh, The Fall), needs his advice. Although her boss has misgivings, concerned that the headstrong veteran will be more disruptive than helpful when it comes to cracking cases.

But in the opening feature-length episode of the four-part series, Farman feels she has no choice but to call on Ridley for his insight and knowledge after an investigation into the fatal shooting of a farmer proves to be connected to the disappearance of a toddler from the local area 14 years before.

The pedigree of this show couldn’t be more enticing for crime-drama fans. Not only does Dunbar bring the charismatic presence that enabled him to create such an iconic character in Line Of Duty, but the cast and crew also include producer Juliet Charlesworth – part of the team behind Happy Valley – while writer Paul Matthew Thompson, creator of Ridley, was previously one of the lead writers on Vera.

In fact the new show carries definite echoes of Brenda Blethyn’s hugely popular star vehicle for ITV: they both feature an unashamedly pensioner-age lead character fighting crime in a bucolic northern setting, with each mystery wrapped up in satisfying, self-contained stories every week.

Some might quibble that they’ve seen it all before, but sometimes we just need comfort viewing, and who can complain about crowdpleasing entertainment drama when there’s so much talent in front of and behind the camera?

Plus there’s a real bonus that even Vera can’t offer: in an echo of his starring role in the classic 1991 film Hear My Song, we get to hear Dunbar exercising his golden tonsils with some shamelessly old-school crooning when Ridley visits the music nights at his favoured bar. Perhaps they could have called the show The Singing Detective – if the title hadn’t been snapped up before.