Manchester police detective Sam Tyler (John Simm) is in hot pursuit of a serial killer who’s kidnapped Tyler’s girlfriend when he’s hit by a car and knocked all the way back into 1973, where the cops are innocent of cell phones, DNA profiles, and scruples about roughing up suspects and planting evidence. Has he actually traveled through time? Or is he merely dreaming in a coma? Or has he just gone crazy? Meanwhile, clues to the future seem to reside in this seedy past, and criminal behaviors will lead him step-by-step to his own father. The clothes, the cars, the music, and the hair are all perfect. The claustrophobic feeling of cops besieged in their own urban bunker seems practically American. And if I were Tyler, I would consider Officer Annie Cartwright (Liz White) a pretty good reason to turn back the clock.

BBC America, Premieres July 24, 10 P.M.

Related:

• Archive: “Television”
• Articles by John Leonard
• Table of Contents: July 24, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!