A banged-up car drives across a dry, dusty plane, a jaunty tune blaring and a hula girl wobbling on the dashboard. The opening shot of Frauds , ITV’s latest crime caper, isn’t quite a shot-by-shot Thelma and Louise recreation, but the reference is clear.

Like the 1991 drama, Frauds follows two friends – Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker – drawn into a life of crime. Rural Spain is the setting this time, providing a similar feeling of desolation, and a nod to the Western genre that plays out in a washed-out colour palette, sweeping shots and twanging guitars.

But Frauds is no pastiche. Sure, it’s another female-led drama big on both gasps and laughs, but it’s also both campy and genuinely shocking.

For those who still see Sunday night ITV dramas as tame compared with their BB

See Full Page