Strike: The Ink Black Heart, review: tiresome politics make this the worst series yet

JK Rowling’s Strike series has given us the best will-they-won’t-they office romance since Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd flirted their way through Moonlighting. The Ink Black Heart (BBC One), the sixth instalment in the crime drama, began where the last series left off: with Cormoran Strike taking Robin for dinner, on a night bathed in the twinkly glow of Christmas lights. Then he moved in for a kiss, and all the viewers invested in this relationship (including me) held their breath. But Robin held back, the moment got very awkward, and the suspicion is that Rowling will never let these two get together.

So onto the murder. Edie Ledwell, creator of a popular web cartoon-turned-TV series called The Ink Black Heart, comes to see Robin (Holliday Grainger) in a state of desperation. A so-called fan is stalking her online. She doesn’t know his true identity, but he goes by the name of Anomie and has been trolling her for years. Before long, Edie is dead; our detective duo Robin and Strike (Tom Burke) set out to unmask the killer.

What follows is the worst of all the Strike stories, which I say with disappointment because I loved the previous ones. On a logistical level, it’s a pain to follow: besides the visible cast of characters, there are also a bunch of online suspects using aliases and hiding behind their keyboards. Watching all four episodes, I found it difficult to keep track of this second lot.