Frances Grant: Close calls in sweet manner

Kyra Sedgwick plays a crack police interrogator with a sugar addiction in The Closer.

Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, the crack police interrogator at the centre of new cop drama The Closer (TV2, 8.30pm), is a southern belle with old-fashioned manners and an addiction to sugar.

The new addition to the LAPD's priority homicide squad had a lot on her plate in last week's debut episode, none of it sweet. And her catchphrase "thank you very much" grew more strained and sarcastic as the episode progressed.

Johnson, played by Kyra Sedgwick, has three major prejudices to overcome. Her being brought in from outside hasn't gone down well with the bloke who slogged his way up and was expecting her job; she's a woman; and she's a southerner.

Fans of Prime Suspect could be forgiven for thinking The Closer is an American version. But this has a distinct US twist in its bid to overturn the cliche that the person with the sleepy southern drawl ain't the sharpest card in the pack. Brenda Johnson is Jane Tennison meets Steel Magnolias.

But unlike Prime Suspect, which could unfold its plot and character development throughout a series, The Closer is a standard police procedural which has to wrap the case up within the hour. So despite Sedgwick's best efforts - and she's a class actress who has seized this role with both hands - the first episode suffered from the usual pilot weakness of feeling rushed.

There was a lot to set up: Brenda's woman of steel credentials had to be established right away: "Looks like love" was her first ironic line as she examined the corpse decaying in the bedroom. A new colleague complained about orders from some unknown "asshole" above. "That asshole would be me," was her second line.

Right, so this female wears a skirt but she's one tough lady. Got the message, loud and clear.

Then we had to learn who's who in the squad, from potential friend to enemy; the fact that Brenda has a "past" with her boss that she hasn't moved on from; and a secret sorrow: "If I liked being called a bitch to my face, then I'd still be married."

Then there was the crime plot, trying its hardest to be cutting-edge and complex: the murder of a computer genius who turned out to be a lesbian masquerading as a man. Of course, Brenda cracked the case using all her canny woman's intuition, despite the distractions posed by conniving colleagues and the temptations of the doughnut tray in crucial moments of the investigation. And finally, Johnson had to dazzle and impress with her wily interrogation skills.

The Closer would have benefited from being allowed the luxury of letting the characters grow on the audience. But having established all of the above at a pace which made some of it less than convincing, we can look forward tonight to seeing Sedgwick settle in and take the reins of the show as Brenda sets about turning all that collegial resentment into respect.

And The Closer is a welcome comeback to the police drama with a personal life after the purely case-driven Law & Order and CSI franchises dominating the box. Here's hoping sweet-toothed Deputy Chief Johnson can have her cake and eat it, too.