Payback

By flipping the perspective, Payback gives the traditional British crime thriller a somewhat fresher look, but it’s the show’s leads that really get our attention.

The show is perfectly competent, with good performances, solid scripting and direction, but it's nothing we haven't seen before.

It’s not going to set the world on fire or go down in television history, but it is one of those dramas that offers the inordinate pleasure of watching quality, understated actors do their quality understated work, without a weak link among them.

The brooding drama, executive produced by Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty), has a great cast and not a bad premise, but I regret to say its main problem so far is that it is dull.

The cast is fine and the drama isn’t terrible, it’s just deeply predictable.

A victim of its own overcomplicated detail, Payback’s first episode inverted the cardinal rule of its genre – “thou shalt be easy to watch, under a duvet” – asking a lot of its audience but delivering precious little in return.