INSPECTOR RICCIARDI

SPOOKY ITALIAN SLEUTHING

Inspector Luigi Alfredo Ricciardi

(Lino Guanciale) doesn’t have much to smile about, policing the streets of 1930s Naples. For one thing, this is the birthplace of Italian fascism, and crime and poverty are thick as thieves. More than that, though, Inspector Ricciardi keeps a terrible secret, a gift for seeing and hearing the final words and thoughts of the recently dead. This supernatural element is more like an embellishment than the main event in the series. Mostly we follow Ricciardi and his small and trusted team (above) as they tackle a series of cases, mystery-of-the-week style. What really sets this apart though, whispering ghosts aside, are the opulent interiors and costumes in a stunningly realised period Naples. All4

THE GOLD EPIC TALE OF A REAL-LIFE ROBBERY

This thrilling look at the fallout from the 1983 Brink’s-mat robbery is truly epic in scope, shot through with humour, horror and the odd detour through social commentary. Unlike so many heist dramas that focus on the robbers, this takes in a huge range of characters and digs into the nitty-gritty of the ramifications of this spectacular theft. It opens with the balaclavahooded gang bursting into the depot. Expecting easily laundered cash, they instead get three tons of gold bullion, which calls for creative thinking to turn it from useless paperweights into spendable dosh. While the villains tackle the problem, the police have their own difficulties, hampered by widespread corruption and a lack of co-operation between forces. The cast is huge and peppered with familiar faces, not least Hugh Bonneville as the man leading the police task force and Jack Lowden as ringleader Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Noye – but special mention also goes to Tom Cullen as John Palmer, smelting the gold in a shed at the bottom of his garden, and Charlotte Spencer as the fictional ‘Flying Squad’ detective who has intimate knowledge of the kind of villains she’s chasing.