"Cambridge's Consultant"
Professor T is Monk meets Cambridge academia. Professor Jasper Tempest (Ben Miller) is a brilliant criminologist with obsessive-compulsive disorder who consults for the Cambridge police. He's germaphobic, socially awkward, prone to hallucinations of his dead mother, and absolutely brilliant at seeing patterns others miss.
The show is an English remake of a Belgian series that ran for years. Ben Miller brings charm to a character who could be insufferable—his Professor T is difficult but lovable, his eccentricities played for warmth rather than mockery. He has a reluctant partnership with DI Lisa Donckers (Emma Naomi), a former student who understands his methods.
Each episode follows the procedural formula: a crime, an investigation, Professor T's insights, and resolution. But the cases are secondary to the character work—Professor T's therapy sessions, his difficult relationship with his father, his gradual opening to human connection. The Cambridge setting provides Gothic atmosphere; the university colleges become crime scenes and character backdrops.
Frances de la Tour plays his dominant mother who appears in hallucinations, dispensing criticism and advice from beyond the grave. These sequences give the show a surreal quality that distinguishes it from standard procedurals. Professor T's mind is not a comfortable place.
This is comfort viewing with edge—well-made, well-performed, character-driven crime drama that doesn't reinvent the wheel but understands what makes the wheel turn. Three seasons, with more likely.
Characters & Acting (7): Ben Miller carries the show with charm and precision. The supporting cast is solid procedural standard.
Narrative Drive (7): Case-of-the-week with serialized character development. Reliable, engaging, comfort TV.
Resolution (5): Ongoing series with no announced endpoint. Each season provides character progress without closure.
"Episode 1" (S1E1) — Professor T's introduction. The first case. The partnership begins.
"Episode 6" (S1E6) — Season one finale. Confronting his past. His father's secrets.
"Episode 1" (S3E1) — A new chapter. Professor T returns to Cambridge. New challenges.
US: PBS, Amazon Prime
UK: ITVX