DEADLY pursuit

James Nesbitt is on the hunt for a serial killer in a new thriller from the makers of Line of Duty

- VICTORIA WILSON, ALISON SLADE

NEW CRIME DRAMA

Bloodlands

Sunday, BBC1 HD, 9pm

Line of Duty and Bodyguard fans are in for a treat this week as creator Jed Mercurio serves up what’s set to be another sure-fire hit for BBC1.

His new drama, Bloodlands, is an intense thriller starring James Nesbitt as a tormented detective forced to confront his painful past when he’s sent on the trail of a serial killer.

Set in Belfast, the four-part drama centres on Nesbitt’s character, DCI Tom Brannick, a devoted dad to student daughter Izzy and a detective of over 20 years, who was working in the job when peace came to Northern Ireland with the Good Friday Agreement.

As the series begins, Brannick and his trusty colleague DS Niamh McGovern (Ripper Street’s Charlene McKenna) are called to investigate when a car is pulled out of the water at Strangford Lough.

BIG MYSTERY

The vehicle belongs to Pat Keenan – a man with links to the IRA – and Brannick is clearly rattled when a postcard showing an image of Belfast’s iconic Samson and Goliath shipbuilding cranes is found hidden in the wing mirror.

Brannick tells senior officer Jackie Twomey (Fortitude’s Lorcan Cranitch) that he fears an infamous serial killer – known as Goliath – who evaded capture during the Troubles, has returned. It’s then revealed that Brannick’s wife, Emma, disappeared many years ago, and might have been one of Goliath’s victims.