BBC ENTERTAINMENT

Brand new big series for July.

BBC Entertainment premieres four brand new drama series in July.Life on Mars DCI Gene Hunt is back in series one of the critically acclaimed Ashes to Ashes; award-winning spy drama Spooks returns for a sixth series; classy crime drama Silent Witness is back for a new twelfth run; and there’s monster-dodging action adventure in series two of Primeval.

Starting on July 6 and continuing on July 7 at 20h30, forensic pathologists Professor Leo Dalton (William Gaminara, Casualty), Dr Harry Cunningham (Tom Ward, Hawking) and Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox, Henry VIII) return in series 12 of Silent Witness - one of the BBC's most successful and longest-running crime dramas. The series starts with Leo arrested for drink driving and finding himself doing community service on a rough London estate where gang violence among kids is common. When Nikki investigates a murder of a young girl from the same estate, Leo finds himself in the midst of a turf war. Elsewhere, Harry mentors an eager medical student who seems more interested in the media frenzy over his latest case than pathology, and Nikki investigates an armed raid on a terrorist cell, facing increasing police hostility to her investigation as she begins to suspect the victims are innocent. Silent Witness will continue to TX weekly on consecutive Monday and Tuesday nights at 20h30.

Series six of the award-winning spy drama Spooks starts on July 8 at 20h30 with another white-knuckle ride through the perilous world of deadly terrorists, international cover-ups and treacherous double-agents. Having survived the bombing of the Thames Barrier, Adam (Rupert Penry Jones, Whitechapel) and Ros (Hermione Norris, Cold Feet) recover to find London facing an even greater threat. While attempting to thwart an attack that could jeopardise a historic peace accord between Britain and Iran, the team unwittingly unleash a deadly killer. But with a virus that mimics the pneumonic plague, there can be no negotiation. And when Zaf (Raza Jaffrey, Mistresses) is kidnapped by armed mercenaries, the team realise that in a game of the highest stakes they hold none of the cards. As the stuff of nightmares becomes increasingly real, London faces total devastation. The series continues weekly on Wednesday nights at 20h30.

Swapping the Ford Cortina for an Audi Quattro, DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) rolls up his sleeves and embraces the 80s in Ashes to Ashes. The sequel to the critically acclaimed Life On Mars starts on July 9 at 20h30. Set in 1981, the politically-incorrect cop, flanked by his faithful sidekicks Ray Carling (Dean Andrews) and Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster), turns his attentions to taking on the 'southern nancy' criminal scum in London. But he does not expect to meet DCI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes, Spooks) who is battling with her own sense of dislocation. Ripped from her current world of sexual equality and respect, she finds herself faced with the boorish Gene in a two-tone, New Romantic, 80s London with a soundtrack of Adam Ant, Roxy Music and The Human League ringing in her ears. Frustrated by each other's stubbornness, the friction between Alex and Gene heats up. However, as the two titans collide, it becomes apparent there is more than just a professional tension emerging. The series continues weekly on Fridays at 20h30.

Primeval’s evolutionary zoologist Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall, This Year’s Love) and his team are back in a second series from July 26 at 18h40 to do battle with more savage dinosaurs and other deadly foes, as unexplained anomalies continue to rip through the fabric of time, causing havoc in the present day. Claudia reappears, looking exactly the same, but with no memory of the past, or Nick. It seems he altered the present when he went back in time, but how? And now, bizarre creatures from the future are materialising too. Connor (Andrew Lee Potts, Popcorn) still has a penchant for Abby (Hannah Spearritt, S Club 7) but will they ever get it together? Meanwhile Helen (Juliet Aubrey, Criminal Justice) is acting suspiciously, and Stephen (James Murray, Cutting It) doesn't know whom to trust. One thing's for sure, there is definitely a traitor in their midst. The series continues each Sunday at 18h40.