Changes are afoot in the new series of Van der Valk (ITV1). First of all, we get through this entire feature-length episode without once seeing Piet Van der Valk on his boat. But more importantly than that, there are two new additions to the team: rookie sergeants Citra Li (Django Chan-Reeves) and Eddie Suleman (Azan Ahmed). 

They are Young People, which means that one of them is vegan and the other talks about personal pronouns. On a stakeout, in between the standard grumbling about being hungry and wishing they had snacks, Li asks Suleman: “How do you identify: cis, non-binary, gender-fluid, LGBTQIA, or what?” 

Now, all this could be a send-up by the writer (Chris Murray, who is not a young person). But it’s hard to tell, because there has always been something a bit off about Van der Valk. Perhaps it’s the Amsterdam setting, which means most of the actors are pretending to be Dutch while maintaining their British accents, but some of the minor characters are either Europeans speaking slightly accented English, or British actors attempting to sound slightly European.