Spitting Image writer Henry Naylor, best known for comedy work, has recently carved a niche for hard-hitting, acclaimed tragedy.

With Echoes, this timely depiction of a British Muslim girl’s radicalisation, that trend continues with a bleak, existential flourish.

Filipa Bragança is entirely believable as the unremarkable Samira, a young Ipswich cashier who dreams of romance, adventure and a life away from the bigotry of the hard right and the Daily Mail.

When this comes as an arranged-by-Skype marriage with a dashing Islamic State fighter in Raqqa, Samira jumps at the chance, though her excitement soon turns to horror.

Throughout, Samira’s life is paralleled by another Ipswich resident, albeit 175 years in the past, proto-feminist Tilly (Felicity Houlbrooke), who marries a Raj officer in Afghanistan only to find herself fighting for the rights of local prostitutes.

Subtle direction from Naylor and Emma Buttler makes plummy Tilly almost spectral, literally echoing the movements of her modern-day counterpart as their lives move in tandem.

With London now the first major Western capital city with a Muslim mayor whilst Syria’s civil war rages on, Naylor skilfully reveals the human experience behind some of the more frenzied current headlines regarding Britain’s foreign affairs with unflinching compassion.