I was a bit worried about watching Messiah last night, I really was not sure if anyone could take over from the marvelous Ken Stott - but Marc Warren (who I hated in Hustle, but really liked in Doctor Who)  is playing it really well, as the dark, brooding and haunted DCI Joseph Walker.

There are plenty of sub-plots in the mix, affairs, past history (interesting involving suicide bombers and trips to the holy land) and the shadow of a previous DCI hanging over everyone.

The original Messiah formula is, thankfully,  in tact, a scary serial killer has tied the Iqbal family up and arranged them nicely at the family table,  after stabbing them all to death. Two nice Jewish girls have been hung and dressed in mens clothing and a Catholic mother has been murdered brutally in her car, none of the episodes very pretty. Considering the killer appears to be working through the worlds religions, thoughts have immediately turned to religious fruitcakes. And so, the local old testament bible troubler has been hauled in for questioning (of course - he is weird, but not a killer) and managed to tell the investigating team the theme that links all the murders…so now they’ll be off looking for someone severely troubled by the thought of impending Armageddon.

I’m pleased to see Messiah back on the TV, these are the drama that seem to work really well for the BBC - cops, mystery and slightly edgy themes tend to mix well with that fast editing, interesting camera work that the Beeb are fascinated with.

Part two tonight - I’ll be enjoying that via the magic of Sky Plus (it’s a busy night for the hard drive)