Moving home clocks in at only 32 in the list of stressful things that you can do, but as the occupants of No. 9 find out, it can be murder.

Inevitably the description of individual episodes in an anthology series get distilled to ‘The one with…’ and I’m going to guess that this clever entry is going to be remembered as ‘The one with the murder that plays backwards’ and bravo for this clever use of the narrative. While playing out scenes in reverse order (not backwards) is something used to greatest effect in Memento, it’s a trickier conceit to pull off on TV, unless the format allows you to experiment in this way.

When the Handle Me Gently removals firm comes to Monica Dolan’s house they uncover a collection of corpses and this triggers a series of flashbacks taking us further and further back until it all makes sense. As with Columbo, it’s less a whodunnit as a whydunnit. Emilia Fox and David Calder have great fun, the latter believing that he’s Andrew Lloyd-Webber and bring the source of some of the episodes best gags.

Co-writer Steve Pemberton looks uncannily like Michael McIntyre as estate agent Hugo while co-scribe Reece Shearsmith is Vikktor, but you can discover for yourself what his role is.

It might be a change of pace for director Jim O’Hanlan, who recently directed The Punisher, but only just.

Verdict: Midsomer Murders meets Memento in a clever, twisty murder mystery that keeps you hooked right up to the very end with a very nice little twist. 8/10

Nick Joy