STEPHEN TOMPKINSON would be wasted behind a desk in a boring nine-to-five office job. As an actor, he has proved he is about as versatile as they come.

We have seen him on-screen under the guise of a reporter, a priest, a construction worker, a vet and, of course, dogged cop DCI Alan Banks, back on screen tonight.

As we launch into another series of this drama, there are bound to be some tense moments as DS Annie Cabbot (Andrea Lowe) returns from maternity leave.

Banks leads the investigations after a man and woman claiming to be social workers visit a mother and tell her they need to take her son away. When they do not return the boy, it soon transpires that the pair are not known by the authorities.

Banks pushes DI Morton (Caroline Catz) to get closer to the mother to find out why she might be targeted, but the whole thing is a little close to home for the detective in the face of the problems with her son. Meanwhile, Annie believes she might have found a credible suspect for the lad’s abduction at his school.

It sounds like we will be treated to the usual gritty murder mysteries from the pen of creator Peter Robinson in this third series, as well as delving into Banks’ private life, with the introduction of his university dropout daughter, Tracey.

Last series, we learnt a little more about Banks’ immediate family, as Polly Hemmingway and Keith Barron were cast as his parents. At the time, Tompkinson expressed his delight at exploring the Banks character even further, saying: “With the pilot and the first series, we really wanted to establish Banks for the policeman that he is – dogged and determined – and now we’ve been fortunate enough to add a bit more colour to his background in a personal way.”

That they did, and it went down a storm – the second series attracted 4.7m viewers in its first week.