Here’s a sneak peak at Five’s new crime drama The Mentalist

There are a few new US shows skooshing their way along the pipelines underneath the Atlantic, but so far The Mentalist is our favourite.

Aussie actor Simon Baker dons his best American accent to play Patrick Jane, a chap who used to make his living as a TV psychic, convincing a studio audience he really was in touch with their dead gran’s neighbour’s pet labrador when really he was just adept at reading their reactions to his suggestions and going with the flow (not that we’re suggesting this is what all TV psychics do, no, not at all…)

As part of his job, he was consulted by the police about an ongoing serial killer investigation. Unfortunately his heavily publicised comments about the case were a little too close to the knuckle and the killer, Red John, took revenge, murdering Jane’s wife and child.

Jane now works as a detective, using his cold-reading skills to spot liars, thieves and murderers. What drives him most is the desire to catch and convict Red John, who is still at large.

He drives his colleagues crazy with his unconventional methods and extremely sardonic lines (one of the reasons we enjoy the show so much!), but of course each co-worker has their own idiosyncracies.

Jane’s boss is Teresa, played by Robin Tunney, who you probably know as doomed lawyer Veronica in Prison Break. She has a grudging admiration for his abilities, but spends most of her time being infuriated by him. His three co-workers are the extremely upright young Christian Grace (Amanda Righetti), tough guy Wayne (Generation Kill’s Owain Yeoman) and man of few words Kimball (Tim Kang).

Here’s the trailer. It starts this Thursday on Five, at 9pm. Definitely recommended viewing.