Many elements of Irvine Welsh’s Crime are extremely old school. Its fashionably tailored lead, Ray Lennox, is a grizzled detective with substance abuse issues (played with brooding intensity by Dougray Scott). Mysterious characters from his past may be the key to solving the case. We meet corrupt, powerful figures, who have ties to a criminal underbelly, and an understanding therapist who helps him to cope with the grotesque crimes in the shadowy streets of urban sprawl.
The second series, which is also based on Welsh’s novel of the same name, opens with Lennox back on the beat after a breakdown that was a result of last season’s events and his pursuit of “Mr Confectioner”. He is now struggling to stay sober – which is made increasingly difficult given that a new killer is castrating victims before carving sinister messages on their torsos.
