Holding review – a charming adaptation of Graham Norton’s novel

‘A slow-moving man who accepted a post in the village a few years ago’ … Conleth Hill as local garda, PJ, in ITV’s adaptation of Holding. Photograph: ITV

When the chatshow host Graham Norton published his debut novel, Holding, in 2016, the critical consensus was, in essence: “Ooh – this is rather good!” So, too, is its TV adaptation (ITV) of the same name, a compact four-parter by Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Karen Cogan, directed by Kathy Burke (yes, that Kathy Burke, in her first TV outing, after 20 years of successfully directing theatre productions in between entertaining us on screen).

Burke says she agreed to break her rule of not taking on TV projects when she realised that she had read Norton’s book a year ago and could still remember the names of all the characters. I find this ridiculously heartwarming, possibly because of the unrelenting bleakness of the rest of the world.