As we approach another week in TV land here’s the usual five highlights for the week ahead.

Raising Hope (Sky 1, Sun, 6:30pm)
Anybody who saw the first series of Raising Hope on Sky knows that this likeable sitcom is worth a watch when it returns on Sunday. Raising Hope is based around the exploits of the Chance family and in particular, son Jimmy who, in the first episode of the series, discovered that he’d had a baby with a serial killer who know wanted him to look after it as she was to be sent to the Electric Chair. Jimmy and his parents Burt and Virginia do their best to care for Hope, although things don’t work out all that well while the fact that they’re not exactly wealthy means they can’t always afford the finer things in life, but somehow they muddle through. This second series starts with the revelation that Jimmy was once a musical child prodigy and so he sets out to discover his artistic side mainly to impress long time crush Sabrina. While Raising Hope isn’t as funny as Modern Family, it’s good old-fashioned working class sitcom with some great one-liners while Martha Plimpton is a hoot as Virginia and the legendary Cloris Leachman is just plain barmy as Jimmy’s great-grandmother. Read more & comment »

Has there ever been a more depressing copper on telly? He’s like the poster-child for uniformed services suicides, and he could well do with some Prozac or something. Or a career change.

And I’m afraid I’m unconvinced by his passion. If his job makes him so miserable, how come he’s so emotionally married to it? Surely – unless he’s just a masochist – enjoyment of and passion for are a twin-set that must be worn to do such a job, yet he wears his love of his career like a hair shirt. And it’s boring.

The whole shebang depresses the bejesus out of me actually; the mournful music, the symbolism – such as white horses that end up dead – and Wallander’s grizzled, whiskered lack of attention to personal hygiene and disregard for how he looks, not to mention the often unnecessarily stark vistas, all add up to a hearty dose of misery. Read more & comment »

Entering an isolated farmhouse on what he believes is a routine call, Inspector Wallander discovers a bloodbath, as the Bafta-winning series starring Kenneth Branagh as the famous Swedish detective returns to BBC One for three new feature-length investigations.

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Kenneth Branagh plays dark and brooding Swedish detective Kurt Wallander in this series of three feature length episodes, the second of which was last night’s episode, Firewall. The dramas are based on the best-selling books by Henning Mankell who’s sold over 25 million copies of his books worldwide.

All three of the dramatic tales are set in Sweden and were shot on location there so the backdrop to the story is some stunning – albeit sometimes bleak – scenery.

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Kenneth Branagh returns to BBC One to play Swedish detective Kurt Wallander in three new single dramas based on the best-selling books by Henning Mankell – an international publishing phenomenon with over 25 million copies sold worldwide.

The dramas follow Inspector Kurt Wallander – a middle-aged everyman – as he struggles against a rising tide of violence in the apparently sleepy backwaters in and around Ystad in Skane, southern Sweden.

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Kenneth Branagh returns to BBC One to play the unique Swedish detective Kurt Wallander in three new single films for the channel.

The drama will be adapted from Swedish author Henning Mankell’s critically acclaimed Kurt Wallander Mysteries – an international publishing phenomenon with over 25 million copies sold worldwide.

The series will be co-produced by Kenneth Branagh’s production company with Yellow Bird (a part of the Zodiak Television Group) and Left Bank Pictures through BBC Scotland.

Branagh, who is also a co-producing partner, has had a long time passion for the books, and the project came into fruition when he contacted Executive Producer of Yellow Bird Ole Søndberg, and after he met with Mankell in Sweden. Read more & comment »