Fortitude, Sky Atlantic's big-budget crime drama  set in the Arctic Circle, begins tonight after a heavy marketing campaign playing on its key stars, Sofie Grabol, Michael Gambon, Christopher Eccleston and Stanley Tucci. It's a rich and hugely talented line-up - but will Fortitude push the envelope or retire into the clichés seen so often in murder-investigation-in-frosty-setting.

Sofie GrabolSofie Grabol leads the cast in Sky Altantic's Fortitude

Of course Grabol is best known as Sarah Lund from The Killing - the pioneering Nordic drama that has inspired countless terrible imitations since. She plays Governor Odegard, who's busy opening an ice hotel carved out of the side of a glacier in Svalbard. However, when the crimeless community is rocked by a grisly murder, detective DCI Morton (Tucci) is flown in to restore calm and solve the mystery.

More: can Sofie Grabol's Fortitude be as popular as The Killing?

The thing is: Fortitude has the potential to go far deeper than The Killing and its intricate plot lines are a huge sign of that.

"Fortitude is one of those dramas that plants tiny clues in quietly muttered and seemingly inconsequential lines, teases at intricate backstories then slams the shutters closed," said The Guardian's Filipa Jodelka. "There are twists, turns and the sense that all will only become clear somewhere around episode 10."

Stanley Tucci

"Whereas in programmes such as The Killing and Wallander the murkiness totally, like, mirrors the grot of the human psyche, here within the Arctic Circle and at the beginning of summer everything is bright, white and gleaming. Think of it more as Scandi-blanc. The Chilling, she added.

"Perhaps the most intriguing element of Fortitude, and the one that will remind some viewers of season one of True Detective, is its comfort with incorporating genre touches," wrote Kate Kulzick in her review of episode one for The A.V. Club.

Fortitude begins on Thursday (January 29) at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.

More: check out our Sofie Grabol pictures