So the first episode of 'Run' has come and gone, proving once again that Olivia Colman can do anything, but that not even she can rescue an under-plotted ode to the perils of urban living.
What we had here was a working-class mum Carol, as happy to steal for cash as she was intent on bringing up her two sons the right way - i.e., introducing them to the finer things in life, like curry.
Olivia Colman in 'Run'
But when they weren't proving their potential for wholesomeness, they were accidentally murdering some bloke for looking at them the wrong way in the underpass, and suddenly Carol had the mother's dilemma on her hands - to protect, or to dob in?
And that was it, really. We knew it was gritty, because Colman smoked, had bad highlights and even dropped the C-bomb on occasion - too similar, really, to her BAFTA-winning turn in 'The Accused'. But, for those who complain that too much TV crime is set in landscaped gardens with Farrow & Ball paint on the walls and Audis in the drive, this was no apologia. At least, those 90-minute guilty pleasures keep you guessing.
While Colman was as effective as always, she seemed weightier than the material deserved, in a story whose thinness no amount of hand-wringing, smoking, punching and one-note piano playing could disguise.
'Run' continues tonight on Channel 4 at 10pm. Watch the trailer below...