Inspector George Gently, TV review: Things weren't exactly gentle as as rape, murder and sexism kicked off new series

Tonight, the focus was rape cases involving prostitutes, which the force wasn't investigating rigorously enough

Making progress: Lee Ingleby, Denise Welch and Martin Shaw (BBC)

With an average of more than six million viewers a series, Inspector George Gently, clearly has a certain appeal. Having watched the first episode of the seventh series, I can reveal it's not for the subtle script.

Set in the North-east in the bad old days of policing (1969) when women were for fetching the tea and being the butt of the sexist jokes – sample: "What do you say to a woman with two black eyes?" "Well, you had your warning." Got that? This episode was all about the lasses, pet.

The focus was rape cases involving prostitutes. Decent, likeable Gently was concerned that the force wasn't investigating them rigorously enough and that too many charges had been dropped by the same investigating officer – whose wife Bacchus was sleeping with – and a man with a penchant for ladies of the night.

As these solid coppers tend to, Shaw's Gently, has a weakness (a serious health problem hidden from his colleagues). The character contrasts nicely with old-school (read: chauvinistic) Detective Sergeant Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) and the clever, will-clearly-go-far WPC Coles (Lisa McGrillis).

In the end, as I suspect is always the case, Gently and co got their man and the women got the recognition and justice they deserved. Thankfully, the police force has seen progress.