It’s strange that as we feel like we are increasingly heading for destruction of humanity, that we are fascinated with fictional worlds where that is played out. Surely we long for escapism, a feeling that everything will be ok, that good is still more powerful, utopia more in reach than dystopia. Yet everywhere you turn, it is the sadness that pulls us in.

Snowpiercer is part of this. Set in the near future, it follows a train that travels the globe following the Big Freeze, a bodged attempt to deal with global warming through geothermal engineering. The train is divided by classes, from the elite in first class, to the ‘tail’ essentially a slum. The residents of this plan revolts to take over the train, but have so far failed, leading to brutal clampdowns. Then a murder in Third Class sees a former homicide detective be recruited from the ‘tail’ to solve it.

Essentially, the two plots interest with each other, and thankfully don’t quite fall into the trap of competing. Our detective uses his opportunity of solving the crime to develop schematics of the train to aid the next revolt. And there is the obligatory conspiracy theories of just who is in Mr Wilford, the train’s inventor and why does this murder matter so much. So the plot works.

This is vital, because it is certainly not a barrel of laughs. We have cannibalism, torture and a whole host of nastiness in general. But it is the intrigue that balances that out. Come for the shock value, stay for the mystery.

My one gripe is thought that once again we have anybody who is remotely successful in life being written as someone who is awful. Why is First Class so full of mean-spirited individuals who pulsate with snobbery and ingratitude? And why are the underclass some kind of anti-heroes? Yes, I know there are stark divisions in the real world, but can’t we have a nice rich person in these programmes just once?

For now though, I’m ignoring that and focusing on everything else. Although if someone could crack a smile, that would help. Let’s pretend we have some hope left.