When the world feels impossibly grey and gloomy, there’s nothing that revives this writer more than diving headfirst into a thrilling new TV series. Playing Nice, a new four-parter coming to ITV this January, fits the bill perfectly. Plunging headfirst into its twisted tale, in fact, feels every bit as shocking (in all the best ways!) as diving into the Cornish sea that throbs in the background of almost every scene.

Much like the JP Delaney book of the same name, the series explores what happens when Pete Riley (James Norton) and his partner Maddie Wilson (Niamh Algar) are hit with a heartbreaking and world-shattering truth: their three-year-old son, Theo, isn’t actually their biological child. He was switched at birth with the son of Miles (James McArdle) and Lucy Lambert (Jessica Brown Findlay), who have raised David as their own for the past three years, too.

Watch the trailer for Playing Nice below:

The couples meet privately, at Miles and Lucy’s glass-fronted mansion, to discuss their next course of action. Tentatively, they reach an amicable agreement to each keep the child they have raised and doted upon – so long as they can each play a role in the lives of their respective biological children. And yet…

Well, stay-at-home dad Pete may be incredibly trusting of the Lamberts, but there’s a distinct air of menace that surrounds the seemingly perfect couple. Successful chef Maddie senses the danger, although she’s unable to put her finger on what’s wrong, exactly – until it becomes apparent that the Lamberts have been deceiving them in a bid to gain custody of both boys.

What follows is a harrowing psychological drama, one which is never afraid to tackle difficult topics head-on. The overriding fear that a woman’s postpartum depression might be weaponised against her, for example, and the long-lasting impact of birth trauma. The dangers of sharing too much of your life on social media, and how deftly elements of your story can be taken out of context. The nature vs nurture debate. The incredible lengths a parent might go to in order to protect their child. The perils of ‘playing nice’ against someone who will do anything to win. 

Perhaps the darkest lesson of this new series is that it’s always actions, and never just the pleasant words they spout, that determine how nice a ‘nice guy’ truly is. And both McArdle and Happy Valley’s Norton work tirelessly to hammer this point home, forcing us to confront all of our natural biases in the process.

While both of these talented actors gift us compelling characters in Pete and Miles, however, there’s no getting away from the fact that Algar and Brown Findlay steal the show with their powerhouse performances, breaking free of the narrow boxes that our patriarchal society forces women into and conveying a wealth of emotion in even the most microscopic of expressions as they do so. Both are wholly deserving of any and all awards that may be heaped upon them in the not-so-distant future.

Of course, this series may not be for everyone; while some may be swept away by its ‘shout at the TV’ story and intriguing social commentary, others may not be able to get away from the fact that some of its twists feel a little far fetched. And some, too, may find it a little too tense and aggravating a watch – particularly as it hurtles towards its big finale.

All that being said, it’s ideal TV for January, and guaranteed to be the big talking point around the water cooler for the next few weeks (alongside The Traitors, of course!). Give it a go, if only so you’re able to join in the discussion, eh?

Playing Nice debuts on Sunday 5 January at 9pm on ITV and ITVX, with episodes airing every Sunday and Monday at 9pm on ITV. 

The show also drops as a boxset on ITVX on 5 January, for those who prefer to binge a series in one go.