DETECTIVE shows, like comedies, have been done to death over the years. But if a sitcom such as Outnumbered can give a fresh spin to the domestic rib-tickler by letting improvisation add freshness to the show, why can’t the same be done for the good old cops-and-robbers drama?

The improv factor was one of the key things that attracted Fay Ripley to Suspects.

“It’s a cop show as you know, but this has been filmed in a way that is making this more accessible; it was bringing a sort of reality to it,” explains Ripley, who plays DI Martha Bellamy. “It’s fast and furious, and will hopefully grip the nation in a way that they haven’t been gripped before.”

In the latest episode, a woman has been attacked by the West Willow canal by a man wearing gloves and a balaclava.

There is no CCTV footage, which naturally makes life difficult for crime-busters DS Jack Weston (Damien Molony) and DC Charlie Steele (Clare-Hope Ashitey).

The fact there have been two other rapes within a mile-and-a-half radius makes them suspect the involvement of recently released serial rapist George Callahan (Peter McNeil O’Connor).

When pulled in for questioning, he claims to have been watching football at home, and both his property’s CCTV (installed since his release) and his girlfriend Annette (Annabelle Apsion) corroborate his alibi.

Jack smells a rat, while DC Steele is stunned that the latest rape victim is the station’s chief superintendent’s wife, Diane Ackerman (Susan Vidler).

It transpires the police were recently called to the Ackermans’ home over a domestic incident, and Diane has a throat bruise that predates the rape.

Could Howard Ackerman (Gregor Truter) be the man they are really after? Damien Molony had a great time capturing a sense of realism, especially as onlookers thought he was part of a real police squad while shooting the series in east London.

“We would drive to a street with the camera in the back, and as soon as we’d spot them (the suspect), we’d stop the car with the sirens and the blue lights flashing and just hop out and chase them down. The camera (person) would hop out of the back seat and run after us,” he explains.