Did you wonder whether James Graham could possibly recreate Sherwood’s noirish magic for a second time? I did. Series one fictionalised the very real toxic schisms in Nottinghamshire mining communities caused by the miners’ strike, it did so brilliantly and that felt to be the end of it. The story had been told; no need for a sequel.
Well, as so often, I was wrong. The new series of Sherwood (BBC1), is exceptional. It is very different to the first but Graham’s talent for understanding the human condition, for depicting the taste and texture of Nottingham — once nicknamed “Shottingham” after a wave of gun and drug crime — and for creating complex, believable characters is every bit as potent as last time.
And