School’s out for summer, but when Bolton teenager Rochelle downloads a mysterious app, a creeping horror starts to unfold.

Capturing a High School vibe that doesn’t make the viewer’s toes curl is a challenge that many worthy TV shows lamentably fail. Helpfully, Red Rose kicks off on the last day of term, sparing us the painfully over-acted classroom scenes, but I immediately knew I was in safe hands because Rochelle, Wren, Noah, Ashley and Taz make for a convincing teenaged ensemble.   

Tech Horror, where a phone app/video game/creaky-old-tech-of-some-variety stalks a flawed hero into ever unfolding jeopardy, is well-trodden territory. Think Choose or Die, Nerve, Bandersnatch as recent examples, and of course The Ring as the spooky VHS mother of them all.

In this respect, many of the story beats are familiar, but Red Rose uses the genre well because The Clarkson Twins’ script understands that phones for this generation aren’t just a piece of tech, they are an extension – a digital amplification – of everything that makes being an adolescent particularly painful in the 21st century. The show also feels fresh because (and I say this having spent most of my life living in Greater Manchester) it has a pitch perfect sense of the Bolton community where it is set and the Clarksons grew up.

Commissioners take note! What makes Red Rose work so well is not that it has some kind of generic mid Atlantic appeal but it is woven through with the detail of a very specific English locality. While the episode title, It’s Grim Up North, may imply a certain post-modern wink, the insecurity that renders Rochelle vulnerable is rooted in the all-too-real social inequality of food banks and the painful obligations experienced by thousands if not millions of child carers.

Isis Hainsworth is magnetic as Rochelle. It’s a highly intelligent performance depicting a young woman caught between the desire for a carefree adolescence and the onerous responsibilities of adulthood thrust upon her prematurely.

The rich colour palette also adds weight to the show, eschewing the washed out look that has become the cliché of ‘northern’ drama. There’s a great soundtrack too, helpfully retro for an old git like me. Indeed, at a couple of points I did exclaim: ‘Do young people really still listen to that?’ I’m going to trust that they do and that my own musical taste isn’t completely redundant just yet.

Verdict: This is a terrific season opener, casting fresh light on a familiar genre, and clearly executed with love and commitment from all involved. I’m in for the duration. 9/10

Martin Jameson