Vintage Spader is on stunning form in Sky Living’s The Blacklist

I’m starting to show my age. Not that it bothers me usually, but when I am reminded that Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart is 34 years old, and REM’s Losing My Religion is 22, I start to feel a bit creaky. It’s the same with Hollywood stars who fuelled my youthful crushes. I remember James Spader when he was a baby-faced teen heart-throb in the adolescent bit of nonsense that was Tuff Turf.

He also blew me away in Jack’s Back and sex, lies and videotape, turned me on in White Palace (I never felt quite the same about the magnificent Susan Sarandon after she got to romp with him), stunned me with his turn in The Pentagon Papers and had me swooning in Stargate. I lapped up the weirdness of Crash – but Secretary is arguably his best-ever performance, while Boston Legal proved he could wield a witty one-liner even when confined to the small screen.

In short, I think he’s one of the most talented, rounded, best actors currently drawing breath.

So, Spader was the main draw when it came to shiny new US drama The Blacklist, the latest import to grace the schedules of Sky Living.

I can take or leave American dramas, unless they’re Homeland or Breaking Bad (wibble), as they’re usually bland, cookie-cutter versions of something that’s already been done. Yes, there are hints and whispers of other shows in The Blacklist, but there’s also enough originality to leave me gasping for more.

Smarter by a country mile than 24 (but, then, so are the Teletubbies), but not as heavy going as Homeland, it’s super-slick and razor sharp, and wastes not a second of its opening instalment as it hits the ground at full speed. We’re told what we need to know as we go, and woe betide you if we don’t keep up.

Spader is Raymond Reddington, a double-crossing agent who, after spending years selling his ‘services’ to the highest bidder, walks into an FBI office and gives himself up. While he’s treated as some sort of Hannibal Lecter figure, complete with special retracting cage, he demands to speak to newbie FBI profiler Liz Keen (Megan Boone), and together they help prevent a young girl’s kidnapping from turning into something much, much worse.

Okay, so my teenage crush might now look like a cross between Hunter S Thompson and George Smiley, with his dodgy overcoat and shaved head, but Spader is the beating heart of this opening episode: one minute the wickedly smug shit, revelling in being able to put the authorities – who despise him – through endless hoops, yet a breath later, he’s bristling with frustration as the same FBI agents scramble to stay one step ahead in an increasingly chaotic situation as it threatens to spiral way beyond their control. Delicious!

If the powers that be behind it can maintain this level of quality, from the tight-as-a-drum writing and editing to the creative licence extended to Spader, then The Blacklist will not only follow in the footsteps of Breaking Bad and Homeland – it will wipe the floor with them.

THE WHO, WHAT, WHEN OF IT

WHAT’S IT CALLED?

The Blacklist

WHEN IS IT ON?

9pm, Friday, October 4

WHAT CHANNEL?

Sky Living

WHO’S IN IT?

James Spader, Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff (best known as bare-bum Mike from Homeland, or is that just us?)

WHO SHOULD WATCH IT?

Everyone, just because of Spader’s wonderful performance.

WHO SHOULDN’T WATCH IT?

Kiefer Sutherland. According to rumours, he was considered for the leading role. He’d have been rubbish, though.