If Bristol-based pathologist Dr Ethan Winter (Richard Armitage) were to turn up at one of Emilia Fox’s postmortems on Silent Witness, she’d be putting a gloved finger to her lips in no time. Honestly, the man can’t keep quiet while examining a corpse, chatting away as though it were still a living, breathing human being.

“Kidney transplant? You were quite young to have had one of those. Finger marks? That must have hurt,” he observes, prodding and probing. Mind you, it’s not hard to see why Armitage is so in demand as an audiobook narrator. Few corpses would appreciate being commented upon by Joe Pasquale. But Armitage? He’s like Galaxy chocolate with a voice box.

Sadly, this ITV drama isn’t quite as smooth as its star. Winter ticks every box on the maverick checklist: he does things his way, drives a classic car, irritates the police and carries a hefty dose of personal anguish. “Do you smell that?” he asks at one point. “Compost, rotting meat, faeces.” He’s sniffing out a crime scene, but it’s also a pretty good description of the plot.

Based on a French series called Balthazar (also available, incidentally, on ITVX), the series has been fed through the translator by Eagle Eye Drama, who have had prior success in this line of business with Professor T, which stars Ben Miller and is adapted from a Belgian show of the same name.

Sadly, Ethan Winter doesn’t have Jasper Tempest’s psychological depth. The only clue to his apparent kinship with those on his slab comes from DS Ellis Daldry (Jamie Kenna), who tells his new boss DI Lauren Bell (Annabel Scholey) that the pathologist can read dead bodies like others can read a book.

Well, if any bibliophile tried to crack open a paperback in the low light of Winter’s laboratory, they’d end up with eye strain, so goodness knows how he’s coming up with any decent diagnoses.

Naturally, though, Winter is an absolute genius in his domain. In the second episode, a murder victim has had their face torn off. But worry not: Winter has developed some miracle computer software that can reconstruct a person’s features in next to no time.

Bell then asks whether Winter has patented this cutting-edge technology, as he could make millions. “Believe it or not, I’m not in this for the money,” he replies. Well, even if you’re not, my friend, you might consider sharing it with others outside Bristol? With such gadgetry at their disposal, at least an hour could be shaved off the running time of an average Midsomer Murders.

Because, frankly, Winter itself isn’t exactly shy about borrowing. Its central motif – concerning someone key to his ever-so-serious disposition – carries distinct echoes of River, BBC One’s short-lived crime drama from 2015 starring Stellan Skarsgård and Nicola Walker.

Slight spoiler warning, but the lead character in the Anna Pigeon Mysteries, a Montana-set crime drama coming next week to U&Drama, also has a ghostly partner. So perhaps, several decades after Marty Hopkirk demonstrated that death was no barrier to detective work, spectral sidekicks are making a comeback?

Although this isn’t the most novel of set-ups, an original thought does strike Winter when he asks DI Bell: “What am I doing here again?” It’s not a question that’s ever passed the lips of a TV pathologist before. Had others stopped to ponder their role as unofficial detectives, there might never have been eight seasons of Quincy, or 29 seasons of the aforementioned Silent Witness.

But despite this brief bout of self-awareness, Winter shows little sign of retreating from police work. Quite the opposite: the longer the series goes on, the more wildly he oversteps the mark. After illegally accessing Bell’s laptop, he then contemplates making a move that’s even more reckless.

Still, if you’re going to take liberties, you might as well be a maverick with no sense of self-preservation. Otherwise, where’s the fun? And with this police procedural, you need to take your pleasures where you can find them.

Winter will be available to watch on ITV and ITVX from 30 September.

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