The plot itself is a little weak, but this continues to be my kind of show. The characters are intense and difficult. And there are masses of references to Get Carter, my all-time favourite film. This week Starks kills someone not-quite innocent, but not-really guilty in a horrible way. He uses exactly the same turn of phrase that Michael Caine uses in similar circumstances, while the audience is forced to look away.
'I know you didn't. I know you didn't kill him.'
Mike Hodges said that Carter was 'A sensitive psychopath'. What a strange combination of characteristics that is. Harry Starks, with his gloomy moods, is his shadow.