Cormoran Strike is back on the BBC as the private investigator with more baggage than a conveyor belt in August.

The Ink Black Heart is the sixth small screen outing and yet again, it lands brilliantly.

It’s the hardest watch of all the series given it’s depth and range of supporting characters, but Tom Burke’s Strike keeps it in the sweet spot.

Top tip – if you’re new to Strike, congratulations. Stop, go back to season one, hit play.

The former army vet with one leg, more vices than Miami and a famous father has another case to crack which is gonna get real, violent and gritty rather quickly.

If this is your first Strike, then it’s time to tell you the stories are from the mind of JK Rowling writing under her pseudo name of Robert Galbraith.

Now, call my cynical, but our JK could be accused of, erm, ‘borrowing’ from other material.

But I tell you what – she’s brilliant at it and Strike is high end telly that largely stays faithful to the source material, even if it has to cull lots of detail. Understandably.

The books could choke a dozen donkeys (read: Snatch).

So you will get a whiff of Sherlock and Luther that gets stronger at times. And as good as the leads are, some the supporting cast are more wooden than a Roman boat.

Long story short, the co-creator of an online show gets the good news, which opens up a web of deceit, lies, half-truths along with right wing nutters and psychopathic fanboys.

It plays nicely on the riffs of changing content creation and platforms, where online is king – that is, until someone mentions a movie. And that’s what people really want.

Cancel culture, influencers, groups on the margins of society are all thrown in the pot along with some good old detective work.

Strike’s partner in crime fighting, Robin Ellacott, is a triumph – brought to life again by Holliday Grainger – and the two continue their will they, won’t they romantic entanglements (which is getting a bit boring).

I think in real life they absolutely would have. Especially with that much adrenaline regularly on tap.

Down side is it’s deep and at time confusing. Up side, is it’s brilliantly written, acted and executed TV for the ages on BBC iPlayer.

Verdict:
Story: 8/10
Characters: 8.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Should you watch it?: Yes.
BBC iPlayer