Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Jason Watkins, Tala Gouveia, Jack Riddiford, Claire Skinner, Lily Sacofsky, Danyal Ismail, Paul McGann, Ben Batt, Daisy Bevan, Kelvin Fletcher, Paul Forman, Naoki Mori, John Omole, Bluey Robinson, Bill Skinner, Bridgitta Roy, Nino Furuhata, Louise Jameson.

There are sports that seem universally embraced and then there are those that to a proportion of the population is not for them, that is not only fuelled by a passion that defies logic, but can seem reckless, spoiled by money, out of the realms to ordinary men and women, and in the case of motor racing, is all about the one second glimpse of the vehicle, a second in which A Billion Beats of the heart can seem to be over in a flash.

After what could be described kindly as a slow start when McDonald & Dodds was first aired, the adrenaline for the armchair detective has certainly ramped up the interest as the Bath based duo have established their own identity with the viewers and it seems on the local area in which the deadly business of murder is undertaken.

In A Billion Beats, DCI McDonald, and her sergeant, the softly spoken but highly driven Dodds, have the almost unenviable task of solving a murder that took just over three seconds to commit but with seemingly no way for it to have happened. It is the locked room mystery taken out into the high-octane world of motor racing where egos clash, where power is in the finishing, and where the mechanics of the industry can lead to the volatile mixture of rash decisions are met with subtle, cunning planning.

Any script that involves the charm and style of Paul McGann in its presentation is already off to a start that Alain Prost would have been proud of, and as team owner of the Addington Brand to whom the murder victim was a prized asset, he sets the scene with calm reassurance and overtures of sincerity that all who have heard his audio drama recordings for Big Finish will instantly recognise and investigate.

Even the in joke flipped between Naoki Mori as prospective buyer Leyna Masamoto and Mr. McGann’s Archie Addington is one for Dr Who fans to embrace, and one that gives the series its own power of refusing to hide the humour that can be found in any situation, even in the foul and bloody business of murder.

By taking murder as a form of degenerative art, the makers of McDonald & Dodds have found a way to break through the also rans and outside podium finishers and stand alongside the likes of Midsomer Murders in the quaint and quirky presentation and set up of detective duos. A series that got off to a slow start, has since series two, come flying out of the pits and given no quarter to those in its rear wing mirror.

Ian D. Hall