True Detective: Night Country review round-up - it's a record-breaker

True Detective is FINALLY poised to return to our screens after an unfathomably long wait, and for fans (ShortList included), it can't come soon enough.

Particularly given the reviews emerging online, with True Detective: Night Country officially entering the über exclusive Rotten Tomatoes 100% club.

Yes, you read that correctly, the return of the epic police drama has so far been greeted with impeccible reviews across the board - a nearly unheard of feat when it comes to a much-loved show of this calibre.

Season 1 of the hit show scored an epic 91% on the site, leaving critics and audiences a like in awe of the chilling series debut released in 2014.

However, the second season brought with it a disappointing wave of criticism, garnering a meagre 43% on the platform and reviews labelling it a "parody" and a "slick overproduction" that came from "basic incompetence".

Ouch.

Now though, our fingers are currently poised above the play button given the latest wave of reviews.

Granted, the line-up of reviews isn't yet complete, but given the blanket approval from critics, it's unlikely to deviate too far from the current rating given 21 reviews have now been published.

Season 4 of the hit detective show stars Jodie Foster in an electric television return some 50 years on from her first starring small screen role.

It's a milestone. It's a thriller. It's everything critics hoped it would be - and more.

A premise which sees Foster and co-star Kali Reis star as two officers who venture to the Alaska during the depths of winter following the disappearance of six people.

With minimal daylight adding to the sense of unease, critics have had their "faith restored" by the latest instalment.

With reviewers labelling Foster's performance "perfectly acted", the reviews are now in, with widespread praise across the board.

The BBC review of the series describes it as "creepy" and "suspenseful", adding the forthcoming instalment is a "fierce, absorbing, richly imagined new show".

The Telegraph's Benji Wilson heaps praise upon the series, noting it pays "due regard" to the Alaskan Native cultures. He says the backdrop adds "to that classic True Detective feeling of being hurled headlong into an environment that you don’t understand and that doesn’t want you there either."

Meanwhile TV Guide writes of the series: "Night Country feels of a piece with its predecessors. Set during the endless night of an Arctic winter, it's dark both literally and figuratively and concerns a crime as shocking as any dreamed up in previous seasons."

Not to mention Vicky Jessop of the Evening Standard, who labels the series "excellent TV" as part of her review. She adds the series "conjures an atmosphere thicker than the polar ice cap, and bleaker than a polar night. Just make sure to wrap up warm."

The Hollywood Reporter writes: "The streamlining of the overall storyline in the Night Country home stretch... weakens the overall season, but at least increases momentum toward a conclusion that worked for me conceptually."

It's a review round-up topped off my Collider, which labels the series a "perfectly chilling return to form", adding: "Night Country is a breath of fresh air, not simply because it injects the series with new perspectives but also because of its willingness to highlight people who are so often shoved to the margins."

We're hooked already.

True Detective: Night Country will premiere its first of six episodes on Sunday January 14 in the US.

UK viewers will be able to catch new episodes weekly on Sky Atlantic and NOW the following day.

• While you're here, discover the best NOW shows worth binge-watching this January