SERIES PREMIERE: The playbook, by now, is a familiar one. A new or unnoticed cable network or streaming service tries to get attention by presenting an ambitious new series, with star power and an unusual setting or premise. The latest network to try that trick is Pivot, with tonight’s premiere of a 12-part mystery series called Fortitude, set in the Arctic and starring Stanley Tucci. If you‘re saying to yourself, what and where is Pivot? – well, that’s the whole point. As for Fortitude, it’s a co-production between Pivot and the British network Sky, which is premiering this series simultaneously. Tucci plays an investigator brought in from the outside to assist the small-town locals with a murder investigation – like Broadchurch and Gracepoint, or even Twin Peaks, only with glaciers. But Tucci doesn’t show up until the premiere episode is almost over, though one of my favorite actors, Michael Gambon of The Singing Detective, is there from the first frame. Other stars include Sofie Grabol, who headlined the original Danish version of The Killing, and former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston. The mystery is a slowly evolving one (I’ve seen a handful of episodes, and the plot still has only scratched the icy surface), but the acting is strong, and the scenery, much of which was shot in Iceland, is remarkably different from what we’re used to seeing.