Makes a change to see such reassuringly competent policemen: ITV1’s Grace reviewed

Sunday-night dramas on the two main terrestrial channels definitely aren’t what they used to be. Not so long ago, you could bid farewell to the weekend with a reliable cocktail of lovely scenery, eccentric but good-natured rustics and plots carefully designed to warm the cockles. Now we have The Gold on BBC1 providing a meticulous analysis of recent economic history – while on ITV1 the new series of Grace began with an episode that hinged on one simple question asked early on: ‘What kind of sick mind dresses up in a full latex bodysuit and assaults his victims with a dildo?’

The programme is based on the bestselling novels by Peter James, whose avowed fondness for Brighton coppers extends to being a patron of the Sussex Police Charitable Trust. As a result, he tends to portray them – and certainly Dep Supt Roy Grace himself – not just as reassuringly competent, but also as unfailingly decent, even somewhat priggish, in their commitment to justice. At the same time, there’s a distinctly nasty edge to the crimes that a sadly fallen world obliges them to investigate, with rape something of a speciality.

In ITV’s hands, both of these aspects are reflected on screen. John Simm in the title role exudes high-mindedness, taking a particularly stern line on inappropriate old-school policing methods. Meanwhile on Sunday all but one of the pre-ads cliffhangers featured women being assaulted, about to be assaulted or – in the case of part two – about to be murdered with a hammer.

The episode opened with something never likely to be a good sign in Grace: a young woman in a short skirt walking along a Brighton street at night. Sure enough, after she’d rounded a corner, shouts were heard, a vehicle door slammed and a white van sped out from the road into which she’d ill-advisedly turned.

But that was in 2012 – from where we cut to the present, and the leaving party for Grace’s boss, Alison Vosper.