Strike: Troubled Blood really is an extraordinarily fine crime drama, where a range of exceptional talents come together to create something that is actually greater than the sum of its very formidable parts. That is something rare and to be cherished. And indeed watched, and I can unreservedly commend this four-parter as a highlight of your festive viewing (along with the latter stages of the World Cup, obviously). It starts brilliantly, but gets better, and there are some surprising and compelling star performances to come.
It’s the latest adaptation, by Tom Edge, of the Strike detective works of JK Rowling (under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith, and she is also executive producer), and probably the best. Tom Burke is once again in the title role of Cormoran Strike, the gruff but clever private investigator. Strike is an ex-soldier with a touch of PTSD, a bit of a drink problem, and a troubled childhood. And his affection and respect for his resourceful business partner, Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger) always threatens, or promises, to evolve into something akin to love. “Akin to”, that is, because Strike is the sort of bloke who seems never-ready for love, and certainly not dressed for it. He makes Columbo look smart. Instead, Strike is permanently attuned to the depraved aspects of human nature, which he’s witnessed in war and peace. He looks and sounds sardonic, if not depressed, but that’s always appropriate for a telly detective; otherwise they’d all be breezy types like Michael Mcintyre or Alan Titchmarsh, and that would never do. The nightmare topping for the Strike backstory is that his stepmother has had a diagnosis of stage 4 ovarian cancer. So, yes, it’s all slightly miserabilist, but you can almost feel Burke revelling in it. Someone should buy him a pint. Or maybe not.
