Key facts about London

Richard “the worst man in the world” Roper may have left our screens now that The Night Manager is over but there’s plenty more darkness in spring television.

Last night was the first episode of Marcella, ITV’s new thriller from the creator of The Bridge.

Here’s everything you need to know about the latest TV mystery.

1) Constructive developments can come out of heartbreak

Anna Friel plays Marcella Backland, a police woman who has taken time off to look after her children. While investigating why her husband left the family home and fell out of love with her, she comes across another mystery and returns to work.

2) Marcella is pronounced March-ella

Don’t mess it up with an “s” sound.

3) It’s all about London

Between keeping up with a non-chron plot that jumps backwards and forwards through time, play spot the filming location. The show’s creator Hans Rosenfeldt, known for Scandi-noir crime drama The Bridge, has said he “jumped at the chance to work in London. There are as many people living in London as there are in the whole of Sweden. We just can’t get those big-city feelings in Sweden so that gives the drama a completely different edge.”

At first, Rosenfeldt chose locations in tourist spots such as Kensington because he didn’t know the city but script editors told him that ordinary Londoners would not be able to afford to live there. Places to look out for include the Blue Fin building opposite Tate Modern, Rye Wax in Peckham and Hill House Apartments on Pentonville Road. Filming started last November and wrapped last month.

4) It’s encouraged collaboration

Netflix has bought the rights to the show and will stream it worldwide.

5) Marcella is rarely seen without her parka

The team spent a long time choosing a distinctive outfit and decided on the £535 Woolrich Eskimo parka because it was practical for filming during the winter. Rosenfeldt says: “It’s a small thing but it’s more of a way of easily identifying the character.”

She’s following in the tradition of TV detectives in signature outdoorwear – Luther (Idris Elba) was known for his grey tweed coat, in Broadchurch, Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) worked a practical orange North Face worn over a suit, while The Killing’s Sarah Lund made the Gudrun & Gudrun jumper famous.

6) All the baddies have blonde hair

But brunette Marcella shows that a fringe can be a good low-maintenance cut for a busy detective and single mother — keep it soft and long.

7) It’s not The Bridge rehashed

Marcella might be an outsider detective with a singular mind, like The Bridge’s Saga Noren, but she is more unpredictable and driven by her emotions. She doesn’t wear leather trousers either, preferring the smart-casual London uniform of jeans, a shirt and a statement jumper.

8) It’ll make you rethink where you buy your bread

Marcella’s prime suspect is doing community service at a bakery and while his loaves are handsome, he may be cooking up something sinister. The bakery scenes were filmed at Jamaican café Healthy Eaters on Electric Avenue in Brixton.