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The Deceived review – the simple pleasure of a cosy thriller

Would you know what I meant if I said there was nothing better than a cosy thriller about lust, murder, manipulation and the destruction of innocence? One in which all the ingredients were present in the right proportions, the performances were bang on and half the plot depended on everyone being in a big scary house in the back of beyond and not quite in their right minds? One in which gore was kept to a minimum (people sliced their fingers on bread knives on-screen, deaths took place off-screen) and the writers and makers dealt in solid craft, not trickery, so you could relax into a story of all the worst human impulses because you knew you were in safe hands? You would, wouldn’t you?

Good. I am glad we understand each other, because Channel 5 has just vouchsafed us a new one, delivered in six satisfyingly chunky slices. The Deceived is the creation of Lisa McGee, the writer of Derry Girls (God bless them and save them), and Tobias Beer, McGee’s writing partner and husband (those of us who are one more ill-deposited teabag away from divorcing their spouse can use the rest of this parenthesis to take a moment and breathe).

The premise is perfectly simple and simply perfect: a Cambridge fresher, Ophelia Marsh (Emily Reid, who was seen most recently surviving Belgravia and has earned this), falls for/is seduced by her charismatic English lecturer, Michael Callaghan (Emmett J Scanlan), who is about to hit the bestseller lists with his debut thriller The Big Haunted-looking House Somewhere Out of the Way and Very Irish, or something like that.

This is the house where he lives with his already-successful novelist wife, Roisin (Catherine Walker), until one night she is burned to a crisp in a fire thought to have been started by a cigarette. Ophelia discovers this by tracking down Michael – using the kind of initiative not often seen in a liberal arts undergraduate – when he disappears suddenly from Cambridge without explanation; she discovers him comforting mourners at the graveside.

So, ladies and gentlemen of the viewing jury: given that Michael has been promising/threatening to tell Roisin about his affair with Ophelia; given that Ophelia has had suspicions that she is not the first keen young thing towards whom Michael has pointed his postdoctoral pecker; given that there has not been an accidental house fire in a six-part psychological thriller since ever; and given that parts of the story are being recounted by Ophelia while bound to a chair by someone we must assume means her no good, what do we think is going on?

Has Michael orchestrated Roisin’s death to gain his freedom? Was he jealous of her literary fame? Is that too obvious? (Has he not heard of divorce? Is that why we are in Ireland?) Who has taken against Ophelia and why? Apart from the fact that she is called Ophelia, which is not her fault.

(Also, why is this not being shown in autumn? Bleak house; wintry landscapes; creeping claustrophobia; cold, bare branches knocking at cold, bare windows of locked rooms and scaring the bejesus out of Ophelia as she creeps post-funeral round the marital home: not normal summertime viewing.)

Wait! I almost forgot the best bit, apart from Scanlan’s flawless evocation of the charming creep who represents Ophelia’s first exposure to a so-far-ineradicable toxic species that she will find lining her path through life, even if she is never so susceptible to it again. Anyway, yes, Paul Mescal is in it! The Deceived was filmed just after Normal People, but before it aired, so he has a little less to do here than you might expect. He plays Sean, the village builder and volunteer firefighter who finds Roisin’s body and then takes a shine to Michael’s new house guest, and does it as credibly and creditably as you would presume.

The Deceived is solidly done and manages to touch gracefully on concerns about (especially emotionally) abusive relationships, power dynamics, coercion and how we navigate ever-changing mores. Ophelia and Michael’s scenes together are particularly well pitched – if she were just a little older and wiser, if he were just a little more obvious or overbearing, or just a little less confident and clever, you could see how they might all escape unscathed. But …

There is nothing hugely innovative on show, but seeing old things done well is a pleasure all of its own. Cosy on down and enjoy.