A FEW years back I read an excellent article in a film magazine about Sean Bean.

In it, they addressed the fact he has been killed off an impossibly large number of times in film, and television, roles.

It stuck with me because the innovative approach was to actually get him to discuss each screen death, and how he felt about how had been, well, bumped off.

It was, even if in slightly bad taste, very funny and showed how Sean might have had a chaotic private life but he is still one of our most marketable stars.

If Sean’s in something, the chances are his character will die a terrible death at some point.

But there is also a fairly good chance it will be good.

So the arrival of Sky 1’s new drama Curfew, starring Sean, holds a fair amount of promise.

I particularly like it when he decides to, or is allowed the luxury of, using his native Sheffield accent as he is here.

In fact, he obviously savours this since here the accent is almost thick enough to cut with a knife.

He plays a slightly dodgy type involved in shady Wacky Races/Death Race style shenanigans in a dystopian non-descript city.

It could be anywhere but I assume since everyone appears to be British, it is meant to be these shores.

Wherever it is, marshall law is very much in force, innocent types are gunned down without a second thought whilst bad people are hunted, and something has gone so badly wrong, there is an overnight lockdown in order to keep people safe.

Hence the title of choice.

It is very Hollywood - with English accents.

Which almost doesn’t work but is worth sticking with - not least because they have flashbacks which help unfurl the back story to how everything went down the toilet.

I do like a flashback in a drama.

Along with Sean, there is quite a pedigree here from an acting point of view.

Adrian Lester, from Hustle, turns up and comedian Andi Osho did a sterling turn in this first episode in a rare dramatic role.

Probably a plot spoiler, but Sean did make it to to the end of episode one in tact.

There is a bit of an undead theme going on here, potentially, alongside the revving of engines and slightly odd outfits, so he probably isn’t out of the woods yet.

If it sounds a tad silly, it probably is, not least because you can sort of accept fantastical plots in a drama when it is all played out with an American accent.

But you have to applaud them for going for an original idea and really putting everything they have into it.

I found myself actively disappointed I couldn’t download the next episode.

Luckily I had missed the first episode of Baptiste so I caught up on that and then went straight into the second one.

I didn’t actually watch the Missing, in which Tcheky Karyo’s ageing detective first appeared, but I don’t think that detracts from this.

The always excellent, but somehow often creepy, Tom Hollander, turns up here too for what is essentially a bit of a bleak trawl through the seedy underbelly of Amsterdam.

The opening scene is probably not one you should watch whilst eating your dinner.

But if you like twisty turny plots with a kindly type at its centre then this is definitely worth a watch.