Death Valley

Light and silly, with hardly any gore, this is a whodunnit for viewers who like Father Brown but want more jokes. The cases are formulaic, so you watch for the bickering. Timothy Spall plays John broadly and theatrically, and Gwyneth Keyworth gives Janie an awkward, bubbling enthusiasm. In one case he joins her mother's hillwalking group just to size up the walkers.

Each episode is a separate murder case with a new guest cast, so after the first you can dip in anywhere.