Are you feeling the inevitability of impending doom as a result of our world’s current state? Well, this is the perfect show for you as Neil Cross (creator of TV’s Luther) brings us Hard Sun, a new cop drama that follows the adventures and emotional turmoil of Robert Hicks and Elaine Renko, two contrasting police officers who are trying to maintain order in a society that is on the brink of annihilation and chaos. Hicks is a corrupt cop with ulterior motives whilst Renko is incorruptible but damaged, and both characters are on opposite sides of the moral and social spectrum with complete distrust of each other. However, following the death of a hacker, they must learn to work together in order to maintain peace and law, as well as protect the ones they love from outside forces.

This is an intriguing premise, which plays to up to one of this show’s biggest strengths; in this first episode, you do get sense of inevitable catastrophe being built up throughout before the truth lands by the end. At times, this almost plays out like a spy thriller where our main characters are occasionally looking over their shoulders or are ambushed around the next corner, so this show knows how to set up suspense and paranoia brilliantly. What also helps is that our two main protagonists are in almost complete contrast with each other, which is why they are almost tolerating each other’s presence and you do get to see their ideologies clash here, which is something that is hopefully built up in future episodes. Jim Sturgess convinces as Hicks, who starts out typically being confidently slimy and corrupt yet goes through some changes by the end, which sets up his arc nicely. However, it is Agyness Deyn who shines here as Renko; Deyn nails the complexity and vulnerability perfectly, and based on this, as well as her excellent film roles in Electricity and Sunset Song, Deyn has a bright future in acting.

Based on the first episode, Hard Sun looks set to be a very promising series with solid acting, good atmosphere and superb tension. It’s up in the air at this point whether or not the whole idea of an inevitable apoclypse can be sustained whether or not Neil Cross decides to do future seasons after this one (maybe audiences could get impatient after a while?), but after episode one, this looks set to be a promising hit for BBC One.