TRUST ISSUES (THE FOLLOWING EVENTS ARE BASED ON A PACK OF LIES)

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So here's an Autumn treat.

BBC1's miniseries 'The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies' is a cheeky tale about a conman.

With the exception of Derek Jacobi, it doesn't boast any household names.

However it might just be one of the best British TV dramas you will see this year.

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Written by Penelope and Ginny Skinner, it's a playful five episode drama about a man who's morally bankrupt but dangerously charming.

The man is Alistair Petrie's Dr Robert Chance.

Petrie's character does many monstrous things throughout the show.

However his fraudulent behaviour is executed so amusingly, you'll find yourself giggling at the brazenness of his appalling behaviour and then feeling rather uncomfortable about it.

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The show is not, though, solely about the perpetrator.

Its tailored, though, around a victim - Rebekah Staton's Alice Newman and her efforts to expose his cruelty.

Alice, who is a personal assistant in a Cambridge fashion house, is stunned at the start of the show to see the man she married walking the streets of the city.

Fifteen years previously, he was known to her as Robbie Graham before he disappeared with her savings and her elderly father's retirement money.

Robbie has rebranded himself as a celebrated climate change academic, Dr Robert Chance and has inveigled his way into the world of academia.

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Before arriving in Cambridge, he has duped and defrauded several victims in other parts of England and the United States.

Infiltrating Cambridge University brings him into the orbit of a recently widowed JK Rowling style fantasy novelist, Marianne Jean Baptiste's Cheryl Harker who has created a trust fund for young women.

Before long, he's wining and dining her with a plan to get his hands on her money and even sets his sights on raiding the fund.

Sensing Cheryl is about to become a victim of his fraud, Alice alerts her father, Karl Johnson's Bill that she has seen Robbie posing as Dr Chance.

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Both are determined to stop him.

However in order to find out exactly what he is up to, Alice starts following him.

After he unsuccessfully tries to drown Cheryl's beloved dog as a way of creating a situation where he can dazzle her with bogus empathy, Alice rescues the pooch and returns it to the writer.

Asked by a relieved and delighted Cheryl who she is, Alice panics and adopts the identity of her designer boss, Romola Garai's Juno Fish.

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As she befriends Cheryl under this false identity, Alice tries to figure out what angle Robbie is playing.

Will Robbie rumble what she is doing?

Can Alice stop him from fleecing Cheryl?

And just how many other people have fallen victim to his romance fraud?

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Watching Petrie's character will remind viewers of last year's spate of Netflix conmen documentaries like 'The Tinder Swindler' and 'Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman'.

Robbie shares the traits of the fraudsters exposed on both of those shows.

He's a master manipulator but while the story could have been ripped from a true crime documentary, the Skinners also give it a tongue and cheek 'Better Call Saul' treatment.

With the help of two astute directors, they also give it a real visual flourish.

Sharp observations are weaved into the narrative about real life male manipulators, gaslighters and abusers.

And while these have an unsettling effect on the tone of the show, they definitely sober up the audience

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Comparisons to Jimmy Saville, OJ Simpson, Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein make laughter at Robbie's antics suddenly uncomfortable.

What really makes the drama work, though, is the cast.

Staton, who is probably best known for playing an unconventional mum in Caitlin Moran's semi-autobiographical Channel 4 comedy 'Raised by Wolves,' is excellent as Alice - quickly commanding the audience's sympathy as a bumbling heroine on a mission to expose Robbie.

Baptiste is on top form too as an intelligent, yet vulnerable victim of Robbie's devious machinations.

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Jacobi has fun as an academic taken in by Robbie's silver tongue, while Karl Johnson is wonderful as Alice's supportive and determined dad.

Garai amuses as a buffoonish fashion designer and Julian Barratt is good value as Alice's amateur magic obsessed boyfriend who at times feels a little neglected.

Ellie Haddington is effective on the few occasions we see her onscreen as Alice's estranged mum.

Petrie makes a wonderful villain in what is undoubtedly the show's scene stealing role.

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His ability to ooze charm and then on a sixpence turn into an aggressive man when challenged is chilling.

But it's a testament to Staton that she more than matches him pound for pound when they are onscreen and is never overshadowed.

Not only do the Skinners deliver an amusing and very thoughtful script but their directors Robert McKillop of 'Guilt' fame and Nicole Charles do a great job bringing it to life.

They're assisted by some beautifully lit images by cinematographers Ollie Downey and Nick Martin.

Gabriela Yiaxis' costumes, Candida Orton's production design, Louise Vogel's art direction and Amanda Smith's set decoration also play a big part in the show's success - particularly in a wonderfully executed 'Alice In Wonderland' inspired climax.

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Alice's cape drums up memories of Little Red Riding Hood and 'The Handmaid's Tale' in a show that mixes reality with fantasy.

Few British TV shows this year have had the visual flourish and narrative daring of 'The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies'.

Few have blended black comedy and fantasy as impressively.

'The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies' is a show that really makes the case for why we pay for a TV license.

Hopefully the show will inspire more commissioners to fund shows that are as bold and inventive instead of just greenlighting another grim detective series.

('The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies' was broadcast on BBC1 in the UK between August 29-September 26, 2023 and was made available for streaming on the iPlayer)