In the not so very distant past of British television, capers in the company of avuncular, maverick detectives were the ratings sureties around which peak-time drama schedules were built. Although viewing figures are much diminished, such shows remain plentiful.
These detective stories remain generally compliant with the wisdom that they should have two defining features. The first is an emotionally intelligent, workaholic, central character (or two) who can see what others cannot. The second is an evocative location that harbours the kinds of criminal deviance that they, uniquely, can resolve. A seeming fit for the brief is The Turkish Detective, an adaptation of the Inspector Ikmen novels by English crime writer Barbara Nadel.
Although developed by a British showrunner, the series was made by Turkish production company Ay Yapim for the multinational service Paramount+. Curiously, however, it was given no UK release by the streamer but is instead airing on BBC2 and iPlayer, having been recently acquired by the corporation.
