The Cage

Character-driven crime for viewers who liked The Responder, with dark jokes and warmth instead of melodrama. Sheridan Smith plays Leanne as a fierce protector of her kids and gran, and lets the cracks show. Michael Socha gives Matty a gambler's wit and says half his lines with his eyes, most of all when he and Leanne first size each other up. Eighties hits play underneath.

It starts simple and gets more tangled as the characters' paths cross, with pauses for quieter scenes at home between the tense ones.