Weekend Watchdog: Take That, poor decisions and game shows

Thorne: Scaredy Cat
(Sunday, Sky1, 9pm)

The last in this excellent three-parter, Scaredy Cat sees Tom Thorne in a race against time to find (maybe) two serial killers before they find his team. I’m not saying any more, because I don’t want to give much more away, suffice to say, it’s a complete nail-biter of an episode.
Grey’s Anatomy’s Sandra Oh has shown cracking range as a secret cokehead copper with a near faultless English accent, and Tom Brooke who is turning out to be quite the “oh, hey, it’s that guy” of British TV is brilliant as pathetic yet clearly evil killer Martin Palmer. The only question remains, is he truly evil or has he been a victim himself all these years?
David Morrisey is, as ever, excellent as Tom Thorne however Tom Thorne is just another rogue detective with intimacy issues and a talent for solving the unsolvable. He does have cracking taste in music though, the soundtrack is littered with the Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and other classic country icons Thorne listens to whilst brooding round the dark streets of Hammersmith.

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
(Sunday, More4, 10.40pm)


I've been waiting for this show for absolutely ages, in fact I’ve been waiting to see it since it started on IFC in the USA in October which was just a few weeks ago, but feels like ages.
Written by David Cross and Shaun Pye, the man partly responsible for über-dark BBC3 cartoon Monkey Dust, …Poor Decisions (as I’ve decided to call it) follows hapless Todd Margaret from his temp job in the US to being skyrocketed to Head of Sales in a newly launched London office. Selling hideous North Korean energy drink Thunder Muscle, and with less knowledge of the day to day workings of British people than David Cameron (burn), Margaret bumbles through his days with steaming piles of lies, only helped by his fairly unhelpful assistant Dave (Blake Harrison – the mindlessly brilliant Neil in The Inbetweeners).
Each episode begins with Todd in the dock for a list of crimes and misdemeanours longer than the series’ title, each more hideous than the last, we can only watch as his stupidity and naivety get him in dangerous waters.
With supporting cast including (woefully cancelled) Pulling’s Sharon Horgan, fellow AD’er Will Arnett and cameos from Janeane Garofalo, Amber Tamblyn and Steve Davis, …Poor Decisions could just well be the sleeper hit dark comedy of the year.