Kudos for telling a complex story of human and political intrigue involving two dozen characters in four packed episodes. Holding it together was a usually brilliant and compelling performance by Hugh Laurie. No matter the bad things he did or that happened to him, I never worried too much, because he, Peter Laurence, was Hugh Laurie and he could take it. I guess the American equivalent is Kevin Spacey in House of Cards, but Roadkill was more pointed and less smarmy. The title refers to all the women left on the side of the road as Laurence motors to 10 Downing Street, a nice theme that leaves something to think about as the story ends. Only drawback: instead of ending, the writer left one unlikely hook open to let us know there will be a Season 2.

A brilliantly acted and mercifully short story of three young adult children coming to grips with their mother’s late-in-life affair with a suspicious widower, played with equal parts sleaze and menace by a wildly-maned Stephen Rea. Somehow in four episodes we were given relatively nuanced and complete stories of each offspring’s romantic relationship; their relationships with each other and their mother; a vivid busybody who lived next door (Imelda Staunton); and a convincing mystery around the mother’s suitor. Oh, and a criminal investigation that weaved throughout. All the characters were deeply flawed and not terribly attractive, but in a way that wasn’t offputting (unlike, say, Succession or House of Cards). And the failure to tie everything up at the end was somehow satisfying.

A charmingly unprofessional six-parter set in post-invasion Iraq, with political and ideological overtones overlaying the conflicts: Arab-Western, British-American, Arab-Arab. Waleed Zuaiter excels as the unflappable former Iraqi inspector who navigates the political shoals while trying to find one rebel daughter and get medical help for the other. (Rather like the hero in Trapped.) Corey Stoll got to play the good American–the villain, surprisingly, is British in a British-made show. We knew the ending would be happy–exactly what I wanted–but it was a pleasure to see it unwind. Also fun was hearing Arabic, although Dari (!) and English were also spoken.