The Border TV review: Not worth crossing the road for

Is there a naming formula for European dramas that make it to our screens? In more EU-open times we've had The Tunnel and The Bridge and now, with Brexit in the air, comes The Border (Channel 4, Tuesday), a six-part Polish drama.

The border that is the geographical star of this series, screened last year in its home country, is the Polish-Ukranian frontier in the misty, remote and atmospheric Bieszczady mountains. That, though, is not immediately clear in the slow moving, dour drama, where the emphasis is on action at the expense of character: there are so many tough-looking Polish men in combat gear scowling at the camera, with so little to tell them apart.

And then a plot presents itself. A group of border guards are killed in an explosion in a remote mountain hut. Only one survives, Capt Wiktor Rebrow (Leszek Lichota) and even though his wife is killed in the explosion he is immediately under suspicion. At his hospital bed, the prosecutor makes known her suspicion, fuelled by finding his mobile phone with the last text he received a moment before the explosion, which simply says “boom”.

Rebrow must prove his innocence, find out what happened and uncover a ruthless people-trafficking syndicate. And he must do all this on his own – his role as head of the border guards has been taken by a man who will either prove his ally or enemy as the drama goes on. A strange mystical element is thrown in the mix in the form of a wolf who appears at key moments, including the night of the explosion and when Rebrow is visiting his wife’s grave.

This Polish import is macho in the way of an action-stuffed airport novel, from the combats and the night-vision goggles to a hard-drinking hero of few words who must prove his innocence. All of this is against a backdrop of hunting down terrified and desperate would-be migrants. Even when the only other choice is football, The Border will be going on without me.