Timothy Spall saves the stupid clichéd Death Valley

One of the golden rules of television is that small cities are breastiness in distant places in distant places. This cliché is enthusiastically revived in Death ValleyA funny, cozy crime series by the comedy writer Paul Doolan, who plays in a rural whale and is constantly in danger of being too crazy.

Like an Oasis reef or a Tarantino film, it is borrowed from all over the world -to the risk of occasionally settling as a annoying cover version. Gwyneth Keyworth's eccentric young detective, Janie Mallowan, is a cross between David Mitchell's nerdiger Sleuth in Ludwig and Frances McDormand's home spuner detective in the eccentric noir classic Fargo. Your partner, which solves in crime Murder she wrote.

Spall is John Chapel, the unique star of one Inspector Morse-Stil -TV detective show called the name CaesarNow in grumpy seclusion in Wales. He is persuaded to throw the shutters back when the Slick businessman is murdered from the other side of the street and DS Mallowan knocks on his door to look for eyewitnesses. With a TV legend that is littered with by stars, she eagerly recruits him as a buddy and soon this unlikely pairing for everything you are worth.

Crazy on TV is a bit like marshmallows on their hot chocolate. A little can be delicious – too much and your taste buds are attacked. Death Valley repeatedly joins this line. The biggest blind place in the series is that Mallowan is written from the fast show like a character while everyone else is playing. For example, if she visits the dead man's business partner and he asks if she likes football, she closes “no … hate it” in an extremely cartoons.

Wouldn't a real detective play along, hoping to get the good side of the suspect? Even if this would not be the case, the constant swinging from Ernst to comedic is. There is indications that Mallowan recovered from an unspecified trauma – but does that explain their performative rudeness?

Spall is better, but only because he has more than fading lovers to work whose glorious days are gone. Nevertheless, it is hard to believe that a committed hermit would suddenly turn into a sharp crime, as at the moment Mallowan appears at his door. In addition, it feels too good that an actor who is famous for the representation of a detective would even be a top rank criminal. Should we believe that Daniel Craig can really ride huge worms in a tuxedo or the Timothée Chalamet?

But for all these problems Death Valley Trundles satisfactory and finds a groove when he stops listening to. The secret of who killed the housing developer Carwyn Rees is nicely confused – with his death, who looks like suicide and continued to pollute many red herring. This includes a curious neighbor who takes care of her color blind granddaughter (a crucial detail, as it turns out), a local eco-war enginor who passionately led the victim's latest great project, and the personal assistant with whom the Mogul spent his weekends.

The murderer is unveiled by the Dynamic Detective Duo in a worthwhile conclusion outside the dead. Only it is not just a murderer, but two – and if your identity is predictable, your plan to kill the real estate baron and escape with its assets is well thought out.

Death Valley is based on solid foundations – if only Doolan's script would be less striving to make you smart on every occasion.

'Death Valley' will continue on BBC One next Sunday at 8:15 p.m.