Strong woman, Soft heart... Superb!

REDEMPTION

FRIDAY, ITV1 hhhh

If the police have a ‘women problem’, it’s not reflected in the TV schedules. One can hardly move for hard-bitten female cops like Happy Valley’s Catherine Cawood fending off sexist colleagues with one hand while collaring criminals with the other, alongside dealing with deep-seated family traumas and somehow making it home in time for the food delivery. It’s a crowded space, and it’s hard not to succumb to the clichés of such a wellworn genre. That said, Paula Malcomson is superb in this series as Liverpool detective Colette Cunningham, who gets a phone call mid-arrest that turns her life upside down.

Turns out her estranged daughter, who left home at 17 and hasn’t been heard of for two decades, has washed up dead in a park in Dublin, leaving behind teenage children Cara and Liam (left, with Colette) and a holdall full of rolled-up euros and pills. Cunningham transfers to the local Garda, ostensibly to take care of the children but really because she doesn’t believe her daughter killed herself.

The format may be well-worn, but the performances are strong, the action comes thick and fast and the atmosphere is raw and intense. Malcomson inhabits her character with confidence, and there’s a fine cast of supporting actors, including Siobhán Mcsweeney – the terrifying Sister Michael in Derry Girls, here cast as Cunningham’s equally terrifying nemesis, fellow officer Jane Connolly. If you like shows about strong women with soft hearts, this is one for you.