Tonight: Red Riding Trilogy

Red Riding Trilogy

Channel 4, 9pm (and +1)

Is Mad Dog alone in worrying that "the greatest piece of British television this decade" might be a bit of a let-down? Certainly he seems to be alone in thinking that David Peace, on whose books the three films are based, may not be the greatest living British novelist.

Nineteen Seventy-Four etc. were striking (sorry for the 70s pun) when they came out: the stream-of-consciousness, the weaving in of real historical figures, the gritty 70s setting, the journalist who's as corrupted as the stories he covers. Except... Jake Arnott was covering those last three facets at the same time in The Long Firm and He Kills Coppers. And, after a few Peace novels, the stream-of consciousness seems less Joycean and more a handy way to fill space. Despite using the same device in The Damned United and Tokyo Year Zero, it's unfair to call Peace a one-trick pony. Because he's got the "real people" trick too. Hooray, a two-trick pony.

Hopefully the TV adaptation (and the forthcoming film of The Damned United) will chuck out all the repetitive inner monologues of the books, find the hearts of the characters (it certainly has the cast for that) and paint a fascinating picture of the period (Life On Mars without the flares gags). The Sky+ is set...