Scott & Bailey

At a time when it seems that every TV detective program offers over- the-top-heroics, impossibly good-looking characters, exaggerated Sherlock Holmesian deductions, and smug repartee, this British production comes as a wonderful surprise -- a superbly acted cop show, portraying tough, wise investigators picking through the detritus and debris of human life and trying to keep it all together until the end of their shift.

Although the show is named for the two partners, the dynamic detective duo who have been essential to all cop shows since "Dragnet," it's really a three-person team, since Detective Constables Scott & Bailey are shepherded by a been-there, done-that boss who keeps them from straying too far from the flock.

As a bonus, their patch is grand, gritty and grimy Manchester, where you have to strain sometimes to understand the dialect, but it's worth the work for the condensed wit and wisdom you mine.

You won't be satisfied with watching a single episode, but try to view no more than three at a single sitting, so you'll have something to look forward to next time.

Oh, by the way: the three alpha cops here are all female, so let's call it Womanchester.