Case Histories

Jason Isaacs and Natasha Little star in BBC1's Sunday evening detective drama Case Histories. Photograph: BBC/Ruby Films/Steffan Hill
Jackson Brodie, played by Jason Isaacs in this adaptation of Kate Atkinson's Case Histories (BBC1), is not the kind of detective you normally find on television. He's not a misanthrope with a murky past, a cupboard full of skeletons and a secret drawer or bathroom cabinet full of bad habits. Well there was some trouble at work, with the Lothian and Borders police, which means he doesn't work there any more, he's now a private investigator. And he is divorced. Oh, and he smokes cigarettes. But he also does plenty of exercise, running and the gym as well by the look of his upper body, which he gets out at every opportunity. Phwoar, pecs and tattoos. He's also a nice guy, good humoured, sympathetic, empathetic. All of which means he's a big hit with the ladies. They try to seduce him and exploit him. He's basically totty. If he was a woman, it would be an outrage; but he's not, so it's quite good fun. As well as being chased by women, he looks for them – missing women. And for the killers of dead women. He even looks for the missing cats of women, which he does for free, because he feels he should. He's like the answer to all the prayers of all the women in the world. Apart from his ex-wife, who hates him, but including his daughter, who he has a lovely relationship with. So in this first one, which concludes tonight, there are these two posh birds, like Trinny and Susannah except they're sisters. They want Jackson to find their other sister who went missing. He's not keen initially, thinks the trail may have gone a little cold, given that it happened 30 years ago. But they pour him a glass of wine, and flirt with him, he gets his top off, Trinny gives him a kiss, and he's theirs, putty in their hands. Jackson's got his hands full at the moment, of cases, and of women. There's also Laura, an innocent 18-year-old though not quite as innocent as her father thought she was, and now sadly deceased, her jugular severed and blood spurting all up the walls of daddy's office. And Jackson's own sister, Neve, whose body was pulled out of the canal round about the same time as T&S's sister went missing. Are the two, the three, connected? On the live, non-missing women front, there are all the mums at Jackson's daughter school who letch after him when he comes to pick her up. And a lady policeman he used to work with, who pretends she's not interested but is really. Another woman in a bar beats her to it, gets to go home with Jackson, but it turns out she really only want him for his work. She's just using him, but still, it's a chance for him to get his top off again, and run into the street, all rippling pecs. Oh, and what about the pretty homeless girl with the dog in the park, does she have something to do with anything? There are a lot of animals around, I think they're important. Trinny and Susannah have a dog, Sammy, until he dies, or is murdered. Very realistic – is Sammy a real dog, and if so is he acting, or really dead? Then there's all the cats, and a flock of sheep that delays Laura's dad's train and mean she gets killed instead of him. There are cuddly toy animals too, and I think they could be even more significant: a blue mouse, a pink teddy bear, plus a pair of rabbit slippers. It's all very baffling, but hey, it's a detective drama, it's supposed to be. It's certainly intriguing. Fun, fast, nice to look at – and not just Jackson's torso but the Scottish backdrop too. Phwoar, Edinburgh. Case Histories is not too demanding, even if I'm not sure what exactly's going on – to the right of Midsomer and Lewis, a little to the left of Wallander, on a low-to highbrow TV detective scale. Just right for a Sunday evening. What I really want to know is if it's true that people look up to the left when they're remembering, and up to the right when they're lying. I'm going to do some research.