It was a great start to Moses Jones last week, a series that depicted London in a way many other detective/crime dramas had tried and failed to do, capturing as it did the grime, the dirt and the efforts of one African community to make a living for themselves in a new country (that actually isn’t paved with gold but is pretty miserable). It was cracking stuff, and in this week’s second offering the net was closing in on Ugandan bad boy Matthias. Or was it?

Related: TV Review: Moses Jones (episode 1)

One of the more interesting things about last week’s opener was the non-emphasis on the main character, Moses. In most crime dramas it’s all about the ‘tec – his flaws, his quirks, his demons. Not in this – it was as much to do with the protagonists, the Ugandan community and the city of London itself than Moses.

It was bound to settle down a bit in this second episode, and more formula it was – Moses and Dan Twentyman (the new Doctor, Matt Smith) started to make inroads into the Ugandan community and revealed more links between the murder of old man Gerald and the shady Matthias. Everything pointed to Regina’s massage parlour and ‘health spa’, and the beautiful and enigmatic Joy. But, despite the continuing investigation, Moses and Twentyman were still encountering stonewalling from scared people. Their frustration grew when every time they had a concrete lead to where Matthias was hanging out (Moses’ research concluded this guy was part of Idi Amin’s army back in the dictator’s regime) he managed to evade capture.

What was worse was that all the people Moses interviewed to get information ended up beaten up by Matthias’ goons. If anything, this episode was marked by the violence. There was an incredible scene when the goons burst in to Dolly’s crowded curry house and, in front all the diners, held her down and bashed in her teeth with a claw hammer. I’ve never been as shocked or as shuddered to my core by a scene of TV violence as I had been by that. It was incredible. Even though it was edited for minimum gore but maximum impact, I sprung up from my sofa.

Elsewhere, Moses and Joy’s relationship was getting a bit fruity (very tastefully and sexily) and a boxing commentator played by Dennis Waterman (in hammy cockney mode) came to the fore.

So things are set up nicely for next week’s finale. The dialogue was a little bit clunky in places and you still get the impression that characters are sparring with each other as the truth is drip-fed to each other, but this is really good, moody stuff.