Heat review: Temperatures rise Down Under in gripping Danny Dyer drama

• 📺 Where to watch Heat: Channel 5 from 11 July
  

• ⭐️ Our rating: 4/5
  

• 🍿 Watch it if you liked: Carnage, Scenes from a Marriage, The Undoing
  

• 🎭 Who's in it?: Danny Dyer, Pia Miranda, Jane Allsop, Darren McMullen, Matia Marks
  

• ⏰ How long is it? 4 x 50 minute episodes
  

• 📖 What’s it about? It centres on two families as they go to a secluded home for a vacation. As a bushfire approaches secrets and lies unravel, and not everyone will make it out alive

As Heat from a burgeoning bush fire engulfs the surrounding area, old friends Brad (Darren McMullen), Louise (Jane Allsop), Steve (Danny Dyer) and Sarah (Pia Miranda) gather with their teenage children in an isolated Australian paradise.

With unresolved tensions and deep dark secrets simmering beneath the surface, friendships are threatened, and loyalties tested while their world burns.

Read more: What you need to know about Danny Dyer's new drama Heat

With Neighbours alumni Jason Herbison and series director Kate Kendell at the helm, new Channel 5 drama Heat proves to be a superior slice of character driven drama from the off.

In an opening hour which effectively unpacks the central premise of internal family issues, suspected illicit liaisons and powder keg recriminations aplenty — Heat is soon developing inside as well as out.

Danny Dyer’s Steve Cameron never feels like a stretch for this seasoned soap opera veteran, as he hides his professional jealousy beneath a thin veil, while keeping darker secrets from wife Sarah. Elsewhere, his teenage daughter Mia (Matia Marks) suspects her father of an affair while the sudden arrival of an old boyfriend (Richie Morris) creates further tension.

This is the cat and mouse game of finger-pointing which unfolds for a further three episodes, as the characters are forced to stay put and face their demons. It's a narrative tactic which pays off in those opening episodes, as creator Jason Herbison drip feeds snippets of story in amongst the numerous interactions.

Read more: Every EastEnders icon returning

Director Kate Kendall is also clever in her use of locations, as the idyllic woodland which surrounds Brad’s property is peaceful yet suitably sinister. It means that the tranquillity serves to unnerve audiences as they become complicit observers, slowly watching this world disintegrate.

Amongst the principal players there are no weak links, as within fifteen minutes of that opening episode Heat confirms its quality. There will be some who are unprepared to embrace Danny Dyer in his first role outside of EastEnders, but they will be the lesser for having made that choice.

As an actor he has a very distinctive style which suits this material perfectly, while Darren McMullen, Pia Miranda and Jane Allsop are equally powerful within this tightly wound ensemble piece. Breathing life into two families balanced on an emotional knife edge, while laying recriminations to rest and moving forward.

A fact which makes Heat far better than some might expect, as it perpetually turns the thumbscrews on these ticking timebombs of family friction. Delivering an accomplished piece of terrestrial drama into the bargain.

Heat premieres Tuesday, 11 July, 9pm on Channel 5.