Messiah

Two wealthy gay men are discovered dead and mutilated, each with a silver spoon stuffed in his mouth. Detective Superintendent Red Metcalfe, known for his ability to get inside the minds of his quarry, is assigned to head the investigation.

Metcalfe assembles a top team, including his protege Jez Clifton (Jamie Draven), bright rookie Kate Beauchamp (Frances Grey) and - more awkwardly - Duncan Warren (Neil Dudgeon), a hard-bitten veteran who Metcalfe pipped for promotion.

Soon they have a suspect in custody. But then there is another murder. While the victim has a silver spoon in his mouth, nothing else tallies. The team seems to be back to square one.

Then, a chance revelation provides Red with the insight he needs to realise that they are dealing with a Biblically inspired murderer. Someone is working their way through the twelve Apostles.

Though the body count is higher, there's no mistaking that this BBC/Paramount 'amphibian' - a TV production with cinema aspirations - is a poor man's Se7en.

By the standards of television drama Messiah is quite a stylish and lavish - if very much by the numbers - production. The director, production designer, cinematographers and editors can all hold their heads up high.

But, other than a reasonably well-worked out central idea, the writing - Boris Starling co-adapting his own novel - is poor, lacking the narrative drive one would expect from a theatrical release. A good 30 minutes of detours and obvious red herrings could - and should - have been trimmed. Moreover, the characterisation is weak, rarely rising above worn-out cliches like 'maverick cop with a dark secret'. This might not matter on the big screen with big-name stars, but with character actors like Stott, it does, leaving them with little to work with. Sadly, they prove unable to rise above the limitations of the material.