Apple TV+ has found another gem. Home to “Slow Horses,” arguably the best and most addictive thriller series now on any platform, Apple now streams “Criminal Record.” This U.K. series stars the lean, angular and near-cadaverous Peter Capaldi (“Doctor Who”) as Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty.
He’s first seen acting as a limousine driver taking two passengers through a rough part of London. Anybody who has watched enough detective series might anticipate him putting the drop on his passengers, signal for help and have them arrested, or worse. But his side hustle appears to be for real. He introduces himself as a still-active officer, moonlighting for extra cash, then proceeds to regale his captive customers with gory tales of murder and mayhem. This leaves the viewer wondering why an officer so close to (or well beyond) retirement age needs this extra cash. What did he do to deserve this?
Cush Jumbo stars as Detective Sergeant June Lenker. She’s first seen making small talk with her superior before being assigned to a routine case involving domestic violence. A caller to emergency services doesn’t give her name and then drops the call before she can be located. Prior to that, she claimed her violent pursuer and boyfriend bragged about stabbing his ex, a crime he got away with because a patsy was sent away for 24 years.
While routinely following up on this allegation, Lenker discovers that Hegarty was the officer who extracted the confession from the now-imprisoned man. When she asks him about the case, his tone changes from dismissive to icy and then confrontational. Apparently, Lenker has crossed some unspoken blue line and set off alarm bells. Suddenly, she’s denied access to the police database and confronted with internal investigators looking into “irregularities” in her performance.
You can easily see where this is going: a street fight between a young officer, female and Black with much to prove, and an older white male veteran, with as many connections as skeletons.
As detective thrillers go, “Record” is visually compelling, with artfully composed shots and a great use of London’s architecture to underscore the vast distances between the powerful and the disenfranchised.
It’s also smart enough to acknowledge in several conversations that not everything to do with Lenker and Hegarty’s battle has to do with gender, age or race. But it also concedes that where there’s smoke, there’s often fire, and “Criminal Record” has intrigue and insinuations enough to burn.
Apple TV+ will stream the first two episodes tonight. New installments arrive on subsequent Wednesdays.
— Disney+ and Hulu stream the thriller “Echo,” another comic-book adaptation from the Marvel Comics Universe (MCU). Disney+ and Hulu will merge into one streamer sometime in March.
— TCM continues its salute to Columbia Pictures with the 1946 noir mystery “Gilda” (8 p.m., TV-PG), which offered Rita Hayworth her signature role. George Cukor directed the 1950 adaptation of the Broadway comedy “Born Yesterday” (10 p.m., TV-PG), starring Broderick Crawford as a brash political fixer who hires a journalist (William Holden) to refine his girlfriend (Judy Holliday). A Truman-era variation on Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” later readapted to become “My Fair Lady.”
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A revelation puts the surgery team in the spotlight on “Chicago Med” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
— The Golden State Warriors host the New Orleans Pelicans in NBA action (8:30 p.m., ABC).
— Brett anticipates dramatic news on “Chicago Fire” (9 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
— “FBI True” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14) recalls the Oklahoma City bombing.
— Beck’s deadline approaches on “Chicago P.D.” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
— “Nine Lives Of” (10 p.m., Vice, TV-14) profiles Dave Chappelle, an outspoken comedian who has survived numerous personal crises and professional controversies.
CULT CHOICE
A wrongly imprisoned Mexican officer and all-around knife wielder (Danny Trejo) uses his skills to clear his name and avenge his slain partner in the 2010 action thriller “Machete” (10 p.m., HBO), co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis and adapted from a movie trailer inserted in the exploitation homage “Grindhouse,” co-directed by Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.
SERIES NOTES
“The Price Is Right at Night” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “I Can See Your Voice” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “NBA Countdown” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) anticipates the big game.
“Raid the Cage” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “We Are Family” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Tina Fey, LaKeith Stanfield and Mitchell Tenpenny on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell and David Chase visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
