Is there any corner of the globe left untouched by the British crime drama? If it’s not Kenneth Branagh stalking through the inky expanses of the Swedish winter, or Roger Allam quaffing rosé in Provence, it’s Ralf Little, Ben Miller, Kris Marshall or Ardal O’Hanlon nicking killers (and evading taxes) in Guadeloupe. Now, British crime turns its attention to the Costa del Sol with A Town Called Malice (Sky Max). a pulpy, blood-soaked vision of Brits abroad. “Death arrives on the Costa,” growls the local Spanish detective. “I like it.”
Gene (Jack Rowan) is the youngest of the Lord brothers, heirs-apparent to a south-London crime family. But he’s different, determined to make it as a newspaper journalist. “My family couldn’t lie in bed straight, but that’s not me,” he tells Cindy (Tahirah Sharif), a beautiful bartender. Soon enough, Gene and Cindy are engaged to be married, but crime waits for no wedding. Lord patriarch Albert (Jason Flemyng) and older brother Len (the brilliantly named Lex Shrapnel) rope Gene into a skirmish – “The Battle of Bermondsey”, the title card announces – which climaxes with Cindy running over a police officer. And so, for their own safety, Gene and Cindy are exiled to the Costa del Siberia.
