Cryptic caper is clued up

Fiona Price previews tonight's TV

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FOR 15 years Phyllis Logan has been following orders as housekeeper Mrs Hughes in Downton Abbey.

Now the Scottish star breaks loose from all that stiff protocol in MURDER MOST PUZZLING (5, 8pm), a new cosy crime drama with Phyllis as its star.

She plays Cora Felton, a hard-drinking, hard-living, many-times-married loose cannon who's recently turned up in the village of Bakerbury with her niece, Sherry Carter (Charlotte Hope).

Cora is famous as a writer of crosswords and star of biscuit adverts and causes a stir in the village, not least because she dresses like she's just raided Prue Leith's wardrobe. Cora's flamboyance can probably be explained by the fact that the character is originally American from a US book series called The Puzzle Lady, but Phyllis makes her believably British.