What Remains

Episode three
In some sort of strange Möbius strip effect, everyone is under someone’s thumb at Coulthard Street. Unfortunately, this exposes some serious implausibilities of character (mostly the comical unpleasantness of Indira Varma’s Elaine and Alexander Arnold’s Adam) that are only partly papered over by the well-structured whodunnit and Coky Giedroyc’s beautifully tempered direction.

Only Vidya (Amber Rose Revah) seems truly decent, although even she’s a bit of a nag, driving Michael (Russell Tovey) into an ill-advised liason shortly after he goads Kieron (Steven Mackintosh) off the wagon. And what of Len Harper’s private investigations? A little help from Vidya fills in a few blanks, and there’s another break-in at the top flat as the conspiracy of silence gets ever more deafening. An engrossing illustration of urban isolation and paranoia, to be sure, but even Agatha Christie would balk at some of the panto villainy that creeps in tonight.