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The Syndicate review – a triumphant return for the witty lottery drama

Now in its fourth series, Kay Mellor’s show is like a candlelit bath – warm, comforting and good for the soul

You know what you’re getting from a Kay Mellor drama, and The Syndicate (BBC One) is the writer/creator at her most Mellor-ish. Focusing on a different group of lottery-winners each series, the show has been plugging away for almost a decade, shifting its setting just enough to keep up with the times while sticking to its (cash-)winning formula. I find it irresistible, though I admit I’m a sucker for any drama that reaches its highest point of tension with an investigation into whether there is a specialist orthopaedic vet in Yorkshire’s east riding or not.

Despite opening in glamorous, sun-drenched Monaco, with a loud, excitable group of mates shouting “Not like Scarborough, is it!” out of the window of a minibus, the action soon skips back three days to the meat and potatoes of the story, back at home in West Yorkshire. This time, the syndicate is made up of co-workers at a friendly doggy daycare centre in Leeds, where the friends are all struggling with money.

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