There's something truly warming about the recent wave of foreign crime drama, fondly dubbed Nordic Noir, being greeted so positively by audiences. The likes of The Killing, Borgen, The Bridge and Arne Dahl have picked up quite a TV viewing that has prompted English spoken remakes.

Sure, the US version of The Killing didn't fair too well, which is a shame as the two central performances were admirably compelling. Its poor performance hasn't deterred others from jumping on the Nordic Noir bandwagon – or in this case Eurotunnel train – and hijacking it for themselves.

The Tunnel is based extremely loosely on the quirky Danish/Swedish crime drama The Bridge. Although it takes the basic premise of a crime taken place on the border of two countries – the original on a bridge linking Denmark and Sweden, and this remake taking place underneath the Channel – they share very little else. This is great news for fans of the original, as it means that you won't know what's coming next as the stories are so very different.

A body is found in the service tunnel of the Eurotunnel. It rests exactly over the midway point that separates England from France. For that reason, police from both countries are called to the scene. Representing Blighty is Detective Karl Roebuck (Stephen Dillane) and for France is Detective Elise Wassermann (Clémence Poésy).

As the head is on the French side, and the victim is French, Wassermann believes that the case should be handled by her French team. Roebuck is happy to concur, that is until the body's attempted removal reveals that the body is physically in two parts, and further details reveal that the two halves don't actually belong to each other and therefore there are two victims. With the lower half belonging to an English prostitute, it means that Roebuck and Wassermann must work together and head up a joint investigation.

As the pair work further into the case, it transpires that one man is responsible, who is quickly given the nickname in the press as the "Truth Terrorist" and this is only the beginning of his reign of terror. Roebuck and Wasserman soon find themselves commuting back and forth under the channel in an attempt to hunt this seemingly bilingual murderer to and bring him to justice, on French or English soil.

There was a sudden dread greeted by all passengers when the contents of the on snack trolley revealed itself.

The Tunnel is yet another terrific example of Sky funding original(ish) drama for these shores. It also marks the first co-production with Canal+ and it's clearly a job bravo.

It has to be pointed out that the overall plot is about as far-fetched as can be, and becomes worryingly and unnecessarily convoluted in the first half of the series. The best thing to do is to just roll with it. Perhaps some of the script got lost in translation, c'est la vie.

Where it shines however is with the portrayal of the two central characters. Roebuck and Wassermann are the best mixed sex detective pairing since Dempsey & Makepeace. Yep, they're that good. Poésy in particular impresses as the quirky Wassermann. Although her character isn't a million miles away from the original version's Saga Norén (played superbly by Sofia Helin), Poésy plays less on a mental illness crutch and simply goes for playing a French Vulcan; for her, it's all about the logic, and always at the expense of social etiquette.

Where her character is at the heart of the Swedish version, Poésy has to share the detective limelight pretty much fifty fifty with Dillane's Roebuck. In fact Dillane's character is far more pivotal in this version, with a larger back story as well as a constant family presence, and takes the shine off Wasserman somewhat. Still, the pair together are a formidable dysfunctional team that are totally absorbing to watch.

It's amazing how much mileage can be gotten from one Nordic drama; not only is there this British/French version, there's also a US version out there too (The Bridge starring Diane Kruger and Demain Bichir that has yet to air on our shores).

Although this British/French version may do things a little differently, in doing so, it's one of the most compelling semi-home grown dramas in many a year and a must-see viewing experience for fans of dark drama, Nordic or otherwise.