by Keith Watson, Metro, August 13, 2009

So what have we learned to do with all those fabulous little cells that we have been blessed with? Developed an obsession with death, that's what. This is not what you'd call a statistical survey but, at a guess, I'd reckon a good three-quarters of TV drama, particularly new arrivals, revolve around the premature termination of this nasty, short existence. Life (ITV3) being a case in point.

In a typically tightly structured episode, this neatly constructed thriller tackled our obsession with serial killers head on -- the head on being a reference to a decapitated victim whose head was neatly placed on the ground, petals arranged around his unblinking visage so he looked like a flower. From that grotesquely scenic scenario there followed an understated critique of how in society the unscrupulous are ever ready to feed our eagerness for revelling in evil.

It's a shame that Damian Lewis's days as Charlie Crews are numbered. But TV only has room for one oddball charmer of a ginger detective -- the success of The Mentalist has given Life a death sentence.