DCI Banks is solid, efficient, decently plotted but ploddingly paced. It’s been on-air for six years but nobody has ever said, “I’m a big DCI Banks fan” or “Blimey, did you see DCI Banks last night?” As is the case with other mediocre ITV dramas – Vera, Mr Selfridge – its sole purpose seems to be padding out the schedules until something more exciting gets made.

Even its protagonist’s name, Alan Banks, is deeply unmemorable. What were the rejected options: Martin Brown? Colin Taylor? They might as well have called him Jeff Bloke or David Mammal. To add insult to injury, this story’s disappointingly un-scary villain was called Steve Richards. It was like watching a dullest character name competition. Perhaps Peter Robinson, on whose novels the series is based, is working through his own dull name issues.