The Crimson Petal and the White (18)

THIS four-part BBC drama arrived amid some fanfare earlier this year and it more than lives up to its billing.

The Victorian streets of London have rarely looked any more grim, with seemingly every dank street corner decorated with some poor afflicted soul. Here amid the disease-ridden slums we find Sugar, a young flame-haired prostitute whose ways of the flesh have made her a certain reputation among the bookish young men who use her services.

She becomes an object of desire for William Rackham, a wannabe writer at odds with his father who wants him to turn his attentions to the family business. Rackham buys Sugar away from her madam (a slightly terrifying Gillian Anderson) and sets her up in a flat where he can have exclusive use of her talents. While she acquiesces. her dreams and journal are full of secret plans to have her revenge on the men who have taken her innocence. Rackham becomes ever more dependant on Sugar, not least with the continuing mental disintegration of his wife Agnes, whose problems are exacerbated by the attentions of Richard E Grant's sinister doctor.

This is period drama with a dark and adult edge, with Romola Garai and Chris O'Dowd excellent in the lead roles and Marc Munders' direction simply sublime. Watch closely and you'll catch several glimpses of Liverpool's Canning Street facade as a filming venue too.

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Brighton Rock (15)

SAM RILEY marked himself down as an actor to follow with his depiction of Ian Curtis in Control and he delivers on that potential with a virtual tour de force in this gripping British crime drama.

Graham Greene's 1939 novel is re-set to the 1960s against a backdrop of Mods against Rockers mayhem, although at times this seems a bit unnecessary as the central story is so strong on its own. Riley plays Pinkie, a young runner for a Brighton crime mob who sees his chance to move up the ladder when his mentor is murdered by a rival gang.

Taking his revenge, Pinkie's murderous act near Brighton Pier is witnesssed by Rose, a naive and desperate young waitress. He seeks out Rose to cover his tracks while paranoia and a hunger for power sees him turn on his own gang.

Despite her suspicions of his crimes, Rose is too in love with Pinkie to give him up to the authorities, but does he trust her enough to let her live? Helen Mirren, as Rose's employer, is closing in and desperate to see her free and Pinkie on the end of a rope. It's great stuff and director Rowan Joffe doesn't let the pace drop for a second.

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