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British TV Murder Mystery (and others)

Continuing the British TV Murder Mystery thread. Feel free to discuss other British shows besides murder mysteries.

Or John Nettles

Of that dishy Michael Kitchen from Foyle's War

Or Rupert Penry-Jones' fine ass in Whitechapel

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by Anonymousreply 516February 6, 2019 3:32 PM

Anyone watching season 3 of "Broadchurch?"

by Anonymousreply 1August 1, 2017 5:43 PM

[quote]Darlene Shively, your British Show Patroness

Get my name right, you illiterate fool!

by Anonymousreply 2August 1, 2017 5:44 PM

[quote]Anyone watching season 3 of "Broadchurch?"

I watched it when it was broadcast. I think it's better than season 2, but not as good as season 1. I've joked in other threads that the storyline is about the rape of Britain's ugliest woman. I don't know why they chose that actress, but she's not easy on the eyes.

However, I really like Sarah Parish in this. She seems to be kind of lower class Brit. I had previously seen her in "Cutting It" where she played a more upscale hair salon owner.

by Anonymousreply 3August 1, 2017 6:00 PM

Sorry Darlene.

by Anonymousreply 4August 1, 2017 10:26 PM

You'd better watch yourself, R4.

by Anonymousreply 5August 1, 2017 11:38 PM

OK, I watched Endeavor last night. I admit, I was a little high. This show creeped me out. The main actor spends about half the show just staring at someone. Any person he talked to on the show. Stare. Stare more. He looks irritated and incredulous at the same time. Sometimes, he stares at his own feet.

Do not watch this show when you are high.

by Anonymousreply 6September 14, 2017 11:24 PM

I just watched the first season of Broadchurch on DVD last week. I got it from the library I have season 2 on hold. I loved it.

by Anonymousreply 7September 14, 2017 11:55 PM

r7, the first season is the best. Season 2 is a bore and while they try to recapture the magic of S1 in Season 3, it really doesn't flame.

I'm currently watching Father Brown and the supporting cast is excellent. Although I don't know why they ditched the Polish housekeeper after Season 1. I love the sniping between Mrs. McCarthy and Lady Felicia. I want to be Lady Felicia because she has beautiful clothes.

by Anonymousreply 8September 15, 2017 1:11 AM

Bump

by Anonymousreply 9September 15, 2017 1:15 AM

r9=moron

by Anonymousreply 10September 15, 2017 4:25 AM

I started watching "Midsomer Murders" on Netflix last month, and due to the lack of anything decent to watch on regular TV all summer, I'm already up through series/season 10.

by Anonymousreply 11September 15, 2017 4:26 AM

[quote] I just watched Endeavour . . . Stare. Stare more. He looks irritated and incredulous at the same time. Sometimes, he stares at his own feet.

Because he's Morse you idiot. Just a younger version of the grumpy old man. But Shaun Evans is wonderful.

by Anonymousreply 12September 15, 2017 5:55 AM

r11, I have been watching it too over the last few weeks. Some episodes I just can't get into and give up after 20 minutes. I'm now onto the 2nd junior detective, who I don't really like. I miss the first guy's homophobia and bad driving.

by Anonymousreply 13September 15, 2017 6:21 AM

to r592 from the previous thread: Uncle Earl's Classic TV has all the Hickson Marples. Savor them.

by Anonymousreply 14September 15, 2017 8:48 AM

Michael Kitchen was a hot young guy and now he's a hot old guy. Seems like he'd be playful in bed.

by Anonymousreply 15September 15, 2017 9:35 AM

R3, maybe they chose a plain woman to make the point that it's not just hotties that get raped. It's about power, and degradation of women. Grow up.

by Anonymousreply 16September 15, 2017 11:52 AM

r16, we actually had a discussion about that in another thread. It's not that the woman is raped. The difficult part to believe is that this woman had so many men interested in her, which was necessary so that they would have suspects.

In addition, one of the horrible charges against rape victims is that "they brought it on themselves." They do nothing in the series to set up that charge and speak to that. So if the series wanted to lecture us on rape, that should have been part of the storyline.

by Anonymousreply 17September 15, 2017 12:22 PM

r13 I'm onto sidekick #3. He's more fun. I think I'm getting close to the changeover to Mr. Barnaby #2.

by Anonymousreply 18September 15, 2017 12:23 PM

I was so sad when Whitechapel was cancelled. It was so obvious Kent was gay and had a crush on his boss. I truly believe he would have come out if the show was renewed, sadly it never happened :(

by Anonymousreply 19September 15, 2017 12:34 PM

Does anyone know the name of the "cosy" British murder mystery program that takes place in a small sea side town? It was the usual set up of a Crown Prosecutor (?) with a love hate relationship with the Cheif Inspector, past romance, etc. She has an assistant that is a bit of a pot head and is shown surfing in the credits (who knew one could surf in England). It almost makes Agatha Raisin seem like The Bridge. Definitely not challenging TV.

by Anonymousreply 20September 15, 2017 12:40 PM

Is sidekick #3 Ben Jones played by Jason Hughes? If he's the one you're talking about, look for the show "This Life." He plays the gay character in that show. In one episode, he gets arrested for cruising. That show was never the same after he left.

by Anonymousreply 21September 15, 2017 12:46 PM

r20, are you thinking of The Coroner or maybe Death In Paradise?

by Anonymousreply 22September 15, 2017 12:55 PM

A PBS station I watch is showing Father Brown and Lady Felicia and her chauffeur are gone... I didn't see the season's first episode, so I don't know if their absence has been explained. In LF's place is her rather saucy and modern niece. The show's not the same and the police detective is sillier than previous seasons - even his moustache is silly.

Anyone have an answer as to why LF left Kembleford?

by Anonymousreply 23September 15, 2017 12:55 PM

I really like "Pie In the Sky". Very low key and almost no violence. Great lead and find supporting actors.

Basic plotline: Police detective Henry Crabbe is approaching retirement eagerly as he can finally put into place his long time plans to open a restaurant. (He is a great, knowledgeable cook.) The first episode (Foyle's War's Michael Kitchen appears as a villain) sets up the premise. While the powers that be are angry for what they see as Crabbe's error in his failure to catch the villain, his boss punishes him by delaying his retirement. The real reason is that Crabbe's skill at detecting makes his superior look good. The trouble is that the restaurant is all set up and ready to open and so it does. While Crabbe is the main chef, he is often called away to solve crimes.

Lots of cooking stuff and the crime solving is not the gritty type, but the scenery is more country and pretty village type.

by Anonymousreply 24September 15, 2017 12:56 PM

[quote] Anyone have an answer as to why LF left Kembleford?

I do. And yes, I miss her too. Lady Felicia and her husband were posted to some diplomatic post (in Africa, I think). When last seen, LF was hanging out her car window telling Mrs. McCarthy that she wanted to be kept up on all the village gossip.

As for Sid, who I also miss, I did not realize that apparently Sid had initially come to the village as a kid evacuee during WWII. He seemed to be missing after LF left, but was there again in one episode where he was almost convicted of murder. After being cleared, he decided to go traveling with promises to return. The niece is getting less annoying than she was in her first episode when she was sent to live with Lady Felicia because she (the niece) was getting into too much trouble and the hope was that LF could keep an eye on her.

by Anonymousreply 25September 15, 2017 1:03 PM

[quote]Anyone have an answer as to why LF left Kembleford?

I don't have a definite answer. I don't think that British actors have the same contracts as their American counterparts. I think many tv shows in the US lock their actors into contracts which guarantees that their characters will stay on the show. Is 7 years a standard contract.

The actress who plays Lady Felicia is now a recurring character on both Prime Suspect and Will. So maybe the chance to do two shows instead of one was tempting. Or maybe they hadn't confirmed the renewal of Father Brown and so she left for something more sure.

The actor who plays Sid the chauffeur has been in Penny Dreadful, so maybe he thought he could be getting more high profile work than Father Brown.

by Anonymousreply 26September 15, 2017 1:04 PM

Midsomer Murders is on my PBS station right now. I never realized before that Barnaby wears a hairpiece. The one he has on doesn't match his hair at all. Something must have happened to his usual hairpiece and he had to wear one from before his hair went gray. Now that I've noticed it, I can't believe I've never noticed before.

by Anonymousreply 27September 17, 2017 1:34 AM

I really like Endeavour

by Anonymousreply 28September 17, 2017 1:37 AM

Just watched an episode of this year's Midsomer Murder. There's a gay couple in it. How progressive.

by Anonymousreply 29September 17, 2017 2:09 AM

There were gays in the first season of Midsomer Murder back in 1997. Barnaby even yelled at the junior detective for homophobic comments.

by Anonymousreply 30September 17, 2017 3:56 PM

Does anyone know how I can see season 5 of Doctor Blake in the USA?

by Anonymousreply 31September 20, 2017 1:19 PM

I loved Pie in the Sky, although DL disliked his being fat, IIRC.

My favorite character on Broadchurch (I've only seen the first season) was the very ugly lady who lived in a trailer.

I like the original Father Brown videos from decades ago starting Kenneth More.

by Anonymousreply 32September 20, 2017 1:39 PM

I just watched the Father Brown episode with the transvestite soldier.

by Anonymousreply 33September 20, 2017 5:27 PM

[quote]Does anyone know how I can see season 5 of Doctor Blake in the USA?

Are you familiar with the "watch free" websites?

by Anonymousreply 34September 20, 2017 5:30 PM

Midsomer Murders has to be the most boring of all the English mysteries. Basically they pack about 20 minutes of action into 60 minute of teleplay.

by Anonymousreply 35September 20, 2017 5:45 PM

Actually, Midsomer Murder is a 90 minute show.

by Anonymousreply 36September 20, 2017 5:53 PM

R31 - there are new episodes of Dr. Blake? Well, yea!

If others here do not know Dr. Blake, it's Australian, set in a town named Ballarat. It begins in the 1950s, so as a period piece it's great to watch - men's clothes, the cars, the women look amazing.

It begins with Dr (Lucien's) Blake returned to the town, cared for his aging father and then running the GP practice. Lucien is also the police medical examiner, hence there's a murder in every episode.

You must watch from the beginning. Lucien's a fascinating and troubled man. he spent years in a WWII POW camp run by the Japanese. He lost his Asian wife and daughter in the war (he still searching for them). He drinks. He has a testy relationship with everybody.

Each season moves the basic story line forward, I think the first four seasons have been solid, i have a real love of season one and two.

The lead actor, Craig McLachlan is a good looking daddy these days. He started acting on a soap and was Kyle Mynogue's love interest. Later, he toured Australia as Dr. Frank n Furter in The Rocky Horror Show.

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by Anonymousreply 37September 20, 2017 6:27 PM

He was Kylie’s brother so not that. But yes he was hot

by Anonymousreply 38September 20, 2017 7:11 PM

Another vote for Pie in the Sky. I think it was the first or second episode that explored workplace bullying in a way the US refuses to do.

by Anonymousreply 39September 20, 2017 7:18 PM

I can't make it through Dr Blake, Miss Fisher or Death in Paradise.

Foyle's War was great. Midsomer is campy fun. Luther bores me. Poor Luther, so misunderstood., nobody trusts him. Why? Because he's violent and hangs out with serial killers?

I liked Life on Mars but couldn't make it through Ashes to Ashes. It's where I first developed my dislike of Keeley Hawes.

First season of Broadchurch was good; all else was crap.

Inspector Lewis isn't very good script-wise, but has high production values.

I watched the show with Felicity Kendall as a gardener just so I could see the beautiful landscaping. Landscaping is also a plus on Midsomer Murders.

Grantchester manages to make James Norton boring, which is criminal. He was great in Happy Valley.

by Anonymousreply 40September 20, 2017 7:36 PM

R38, my mistake about the casting of McLachlan and Myogue - bad memory from a google search.

Mclahlan's voice - God I love listening to him speak! He could growl all sorts of filthy things in my ear any day!

R40, why the dislike for DR, MF and DiP?

I can't stand Midsomer - how did that show stay on the air for so many years? And John Nettles, his wife, an daughter? What's the appeal? He always sounds like he's having an asthma attack, the wife's stupid bleach blond bob and Cullie... what's her purpose in life?

by Anonymousreply 41September 20, 2017 9:16 PM

I love how in Death in Paradise they stop working at 4 PM to go to the bar instead of working day and night to solve the crime like in the US cop shows.

by Anonymousreply 42September 20, 2017 9:31 PM

I like Death in Paradise with the first 2 lead detectives. They just switched over to a 3rd and he doesn't work for me. Perhaps because they had him be a sad sack widower with a grown daughter who came with him.

by Anonymousreply 43September 20, 2017 9:54 PM

Inspector Lynley was, along with Foyle, the best of the shows. They're even good the second time around.

by Anonymousreply 44September 20, 2017 10:07 PM

Endeavour was better this season than usual. I wish they'd produce more than four episodes at a time, though.

by Anonymousreply 45September 20, 2017 10:12 PM

[quote]I can't stand Midsomer - how did that show stay on the air for so many years?

Beautiful setting/nice scenery. Ensemble casting. And the writing doesn't go contemporary politically correct and it's not usually a gore fest. It's just a good straightforward mystery.

by Anonymousreply 46September 20, 2017 10:24 PM

I only watched 2 eps with the new detective of Death in Paradise.

Not sure the point of the daughter yet. It seems she does nothing all day only to show up at the end of episode to drink a cocktail.

And the last episode I saw with the new one was the mayorality election day one which had a pretty unconvinging case too

Why does the female detective always dress like she's going to the beach rather than a crime scene?

by Anonymousreply 47September 20, 2017 10:26 PM

Midsomer Murder is a cynical commentary on sweet and cosy murder mysteries as much it is a cynical commentary on living in the countryside.

by Anonymousreply 48September 20, 2017 10:27 PM

While it's not murder mystery, Season 8 of Doc Marin premiered tonight.

by Anonymousreply 49September 20, 2017 11:17 PM

[quote]Actually, Midsomer Murder is a 90 minute show.

Actually, it runs nearly two hours (without commercials.)

by Anonymousreply 50September 20, 2017 11:33 PM

[quote]Actually, it runs nearly two hours (without commercials.)

Actually, it's a 90 minute show (without commercials). Not only do I know this from experience, but it's designated on their imdb page.

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by Anonymousreply 51September 20, 2017 11:50 PM

Netflix is removing all Poirot episodes Sept 30, 2017.

They had already ditched seasons 1-6.

I'll probably cancel my subscription now.

by Anonymousreply 52September 21, 2017 12:02 AM

That's why I bought all the Poirot episodes. They are my favorites.

by Anonymousreply 53September 21, 2017 12:05 AM

I can watch "Poirot" on my Smart TV via YouTube uploads.

Today I decided I prefer the Ustinov "Death on the Nile" to the Suchet version.

by Anonymousreply 54September 21, 2017 3:19 AM

Father Brown is back for a Christmas special in December + Season 6 in January on BBC

Lady Felicia and Sid are back for at least one episode

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by Anonymousreply 55November 19, 2017 8:27 PM

I watched the last 2 episodes of Midsomer Series 19 (for some kind of reasons they have been broadcasted in Italy this month while still not out in UK)

(vague) spoiler alert.....

Death by Persuasion features some mad people dressed like Jane Austen characters in a random villa in Midsomer. Yeah, because the legend said Jane Austen one took a cup of tea in that village and therefore they now offer Jane Austen themed weekends....it all makes perfectly sense. And there are some drones too flying around. It doesn't make too much sense even at the end but there are some closet gays...and they even survive the episode! The Indian pathologist was away and a blonde new pathologies tried for the whole episode to bed the sergent. Without much success.

The Curse of the Ninth is about some rivalities between violinists in an orchestra. At least it seemed so. But at the end the murders had nothing to do with it. The Indian pathologist is back and leaves for good at the end of the episode.

by Anonymousreply 56November 19, 2017 8:36 PM

Love Morse, Marple and Poirot - more cosy viewing and very engaging.

If you like something a tad grittier then "A Touch of Frost" - especially the older episodes - are excellent.

Of course, Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren was seminal and still stands the test of time.

If you can get past the heavy Scottish accents then "Taggart" (early episodes) is well worth seeing. Similarly "Cracker" with Robbie Coltrane is fantastic viewing.

by Anonymousreply 57November 19, 2017 8:36 PM

I've been binge-watching Midsomer from the very beginning on Netflix. I just got to the episode in Season/Series 13 where they introduced the cousin (John Barnaby), so I guess Tom's departure is coming soon.

by Anonymousreply 58November 19, 2017 10:26 PM

The Father Brown episodes with Lady Felicia are the best. Nobody screams like Lady F.

by Anonymousreply 59November 20, 2017 5:56 PM

Are Lady F and Sid gone from Father Brown for good or do they return?

Who thinks that Lady F's very modern niece had Sid's trailer rockin? I bet she left him exhausted!

by Anonymousreply 60November 20, 2017 6:01 PM

[quote]Are Lady F and Sid gone from Father Brown for good or do they return?

Sid was on for one episode in 2017. Supposedly, in 2018, both will return for an episode.

I don't think that Bunty had Sid's trailer rockin. She seems to be a cocktease and there are much higher class men than drifter Sid. I think Sid beds all the farm girls in the area.

by Anonymousreply 61November 20, 2017 6:04 PM

Still think that Foyle and Lynley are the only two shows that are always good. The others are up and down, especially Morse, which can be terrific or poor... except, that is, Midsomer, which is so boring it's like electronic xanax.

by Anonymousreply 62November 20, 2017 6:52 PM

Lynley? Lynley always seemed like a British murder mystery written for non-Brits.

by Anonymousreply 63November 20, 2017 7:03 PM

I hate Lynley. I read several of the early books and the actor they chose bears NO resemblance to the character in the book. In fact, his whole life is different, other than the fact that he is an aristocrat.

His girlfriend, who was beautiful in the books, is not.

And his sergeant, who they seem to be hinting at a chance of romance - no way, no how according to the books.

I cannot watch any of the TV episodes. I hate it when some producer, screenwriter or whoever decides they know better than the person who wrote the successful books.

AWK!

by Anonymousreply 64November 20, 2017 8:20 PM

R64, if you want something just like the book.....stick with the books. Why even bother watching the show. I don't get the "change is bad" queens

by Anonymousreply 65November 21, 2017 12:07 AM

R65, yes, R64 does seem a bit unhinged, but deep down he/she has a point... there are times when a beloved book and its characters are brought to TV or a movie and they bear no resemblance to what an author has written. Like R64, I don't understand the concept of taking something successful and creating something so different.

Here's an example of how to make changes, but keep the core of characters and storylines... Longmire. The TV show is definitely different from the books (esp the character Branch), but as a whole, it's the book on TV. Even the author likes the show.

by Anonymousreply 66November 21, 2017 7:34 PM

Vera is back with new episodes starting on Sunday 7th on ITV

Father Brown came back on December 18th. Sid was in the episode. New episodes will be back since January 2th. Sid and Lady Felicia will be in episode 5 (January 5). Flambeau will appear in the season finale.

by Anonymousreply 67December 26, 2017 8:26 PM

the 18th december episode is already online

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by Anonymousreply 68December 26, 2017 8:27 PM

I just watched [italic]The Five [/italic] on Netflix. Harlan Coben with English actors, shot in Liverpool. It was really good. Dramatically satisfying.

by Anonymousreply 69December 26, 2017 8:32 PM

Well.....I agree he's improved a lot with age, R15.

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by Anonymousreply 70December 26, 2017 8:34 PM

ENDEAVOUR 4:2 ("Canticle") has a bisexual plot-twist.

And Shaun Evans's whole body just hangs off his cheekbones.

by Anonymousreply 71December 26, 2017 8:37 PM

Is there anyplace to see Above Suspicion seasons 3-4. Acorn TV only has 1-2.

by Anonymousreply 72December 26, 2017 8:43 PM

[quote]Shaun Evans's whole body just hangs off his cheekbones.

I can't tell if this is a good thing or bad. I find him quite lovely. Especially for a blond.

by Anonymousreply 73December 26, 2017 9:02 PM

r72, try this. But make sure you have a virus checker because some of these sites have some nasty stuff.

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by Anonymousreply 74December 26, 2017 9:31 PM

[quote]His girlfriend, who was beautiful in the books, is not.

The guy playing Lynley is hansome and, yes, the actress playing his gf is very UNattractive.

by Anonymousreply 75December 26, 2017 9:52 PM

It may not fit exactly with this topic, but there is a Maigret TV movie series starring Rowan Atkinson by ITV. I guess they are trying to get some sort of Mrs. Marple / Poirot series franchise going?

by Anonymousreply 76December 26, 2017 10:36 PM

I've seen the first 2 episodes of Atkinson's Maigret and it is very well done. They put a new episode on Christmas Eve this year and it flopped.....not that it was hard to predict. Since when Maigret should be the typical Christmas Eve viewing?

by Anonymousreply 77December 26, 2017 10:38 PM

r77, if you are referring to Maigret in Montmatre I am puzzled about that, too, because it is not Christmas themed at all. Sebastian de Souza plays a gay hustler addicted to morphine. But it's seems rather great.

by Anonymousreply 78December 26, 2017 10:44 PM

I spent last year's winter weekends rewatching all of the Foyle's War episodes in chronological order and they did not disappoint. For me, it is far and away the best British crime series ever.

I keep hoping that Foyle's assistant Paul Milner, played by Anthony Howell, will turn up as a regular in a new series, but as far as I can see he hasn't. Sadly, most of his recent credits on IMDB are for awful sounding apocolyptic-themed movies with Battlefield and Battlefleet and Zero Dawn in the titles.

by Anonymousreply 79December 26, 2017 11:59 PM

The Maigret series with Rowan Atkinson is pretty dark, almost Scandinavian level of dark and depressing. It's not even gory or gruesome in scenes, but it's all in the dialogue of murder victims being raped as 13 year old girls, victims being tortured and their breasts burned off, etc.

by Anonymousreply 80December 30, 2017 10:28 PM

"Hinterland" on Netflix is pretty good. Even though, Aberystwyth and its surroundings seems to be the Welsh version of Cabot Cove. Joking aside, if you can get over the fact that Western Wales seems to have a higher murder rate than parts of London, it's pretty dark, sort of in the vein of those Nordic noir crime dramas.

by Anonymousreply 81December 30, 2017 10:45 PM

[quote]if you can get over the fact that Western Wales seems to have a higher murder rate than parts of London

That's standard for any British show. 20 years of Midsomer Murder and you'd think the whole population of Midsomer would be dead by now. And if Father Brown spent more time preaching and less time doing detective work, maybe Kembleford wouldn't have so many murders.

And what about Rosemary & Thyme? Everytime these two gardeners show up, there's a murder. You'd think the British would get the hint after awhile and arrest those two.

by Anonymousreply 82December 30, 2017 10:56 PM

All local people in n Kembleford are dead or in prison by now. So the murder often involves visitors.

by Anonymousreply 83December 30, 2017 10:59 PM

Father Brown hasn’t been as good since Lady Felicia and especially Sid departed. LF’s niece is at least an approximation of the LF character. Instead of getting a character similar to Sid they bumped up the role of the chief inspector’s assistant, a completely useless character. believe Alex Price (Sid)’s theatre work prevented him from remaining on the show

Grantchester jumped the shark last season when we find out the housekeeper’s husband who she thought had died decades ago suddenly turns up (a plot I had just seen on an episode of Father Brown). James Norton then runs off and joins a caravan of gypsies to get back what the husband had stolen from the housekeeper. Awful writing- I felt like I was watching another show. And Morven Christie, the actress who plays the woman Sidney pines for, is unattractive and annoying as hell.

by Anonymousreply 84December 30, 2017 11:03 PM

[quote] believe Alex Price (Sid)’s theatre work prevented him from remaining on the show

Yes, I think so. Although he did show up in the Christmas episode this year. And I think Lady Felicia comes back for one episode this upcoming season.

by Anonymousreply 85December 30, 2017 11:08 PM

"That's standard for any British show. 20 years of Midsomer Murder and you'd think the whole population of Midsomer would be dead by now. And if Father Brown spent more time preaching and less time doing detective work, maybe Kembleford wouldn't have so many murders."

In America we have Cabot Cove - the murder capital of the world.

by Anonymousreply 86December 31, 2017 1:53 AM

I enjoyed Whitechapel but I think it really got too into the supernatural and jumped the shark towards the end. I think if they had kept to just crime solving it might have survived longer. The set of their "office" got darker and darker, they were working in the dark for fuck's sake, and at some point, they seemed to be the only ones in the office period. No more bustling police station and background activity. It went from a crime show to a ghost show. Same thing happened with a show called Bedlam, which was a ghost show, but it just got too bizarre and almost everyone from the first series disappeared.

by Anonymousreply 87December 31, 2017 6:54 PM

I think originally Whitechapel was supposed to be about a Jack the Ripper copycat, which was what Season 1 was about. I think they only had plans for it to be a single series. Then it became popular and they were pushed to write additional seasons and they didn't seem to know what to do after that because the original concept was just about Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel area.

by Anonymousreply 88December 31, 2017 7:04 PM

They had an episode about the Kraye twins too that was pretty good.

by Anonymousreply 89December 31, 2017 7:11 PM

‘Shetland’ is one of my favorites. The lead, Douglas Henshall, is quite a sexy DILF too.

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by Anonymousreply 90December 31, 2017 7:20 PM

R90, I love Shetland, I will be sad when it is over. Does anyone know if the author killed off the lead? If so, will they do the same in the TV program?

by Anonymousreply 91December 31, 2017 7:25 PM

I don’t know, r91, but I believe Season 4 is set to air in the U.K. very soon.

by Anonymousreply 92December 31, 2017 7:27 PM

R92, thanks. I wish I could see it when it airs there instead of waiting to see which of the numerous platforms in the US pay for the rights.

by Anonymousreply 93December 31, 2017 7:30 PM

Henshall gained a lot of notoriety 20 years or so ago for showing his erect cock in ANGELS AND INSECTS.

by Anonymousreply 94December 31, 2017 7:31 PM

Hey, the "white male as a sexist pig" story has hit Australia! Craig McLachlan, who plays the lead on "The Doctor Blake Mysteries" has been called out by several actresses during a 2014 run of the stage musical, The Rocky Horror Show. Plus, Doctor Blake was cancelled in 2017... I've seen the first four series, but I don't think my PBS station has aired series 5.

Nice arms and pits Craig...

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by Anonymousreply 95January 8, 2018 4:51 PM

Finished to see Grantchester season 3 tonight

The Amanda story has been dragged too long

And way too much focus on personal lives rather than murder plots in the last 3 episodes

by Anonymousreply 96January 8, 2018 10:43 PM

Sixty percent of Midsomer Murders episodes in seasons 1-13 are excellent.

by Anonymousreply 97January 8, 2018 10:57 PM

River, the miniseries (6 episodes), with Stellan Skarsgård and Nicola Walker is superb: the acting, the story, everything. I love Nicola in pretty much everything (check out "Unforgotten") and Stellan is amazing in this.

by Anonymousreply 98January 8, 2018 11:05 PM

“Unforgotten” Season Two was amazing. Nicola is always great (though I really didn’t care for “River”) and Mark Bonnar is sensational in it.

by Anonymousreply 99January 9, 2018 3:22 AM

John Light is back in Father Brown's 10th episode of the current season called "The Two Deaths of Hercule Flambeau". I alwys enjoy the Flambeau episode of each season.

A bit off topic. I recently watch the Maigret series starring Rowan Atkinson and Light's guest appearance in 2016 episode of Maigret is rather dark and sinister, but then the Maigret series is dark and sinister in general.

by Anonymousreply 100January 12, 2018 4:36 PM

The Flambeau episodes of Father Brown are the worst, IMO.

by Anonymousreply 101January 12, 2018 6:40 PM

I made it through one episode of River and that was it. A violent Swedish detective in England talks to dead people and yeah, his bosses act like "Well, he's strange, violent, delusional and ridiculous, but the police department simply can't work without him!"

Very much like Luther. "Yeah, he has a hair trigger temper, he beats the shit out of people, he yells and waves his arms around all the time and he hangs out with a serial killer who pretty much has miracle powers. But dammit, we believe in him!"

There's always one "bad guy" in the police department who is trying to get the violent, delusional, unstable cop kicked off the force. And we're supposed to think he's wrong.

by Anonymousreply 102January 12, 2018 9:38 PM

[quote]A violent Swedish detective in England talks to dead people and yeah, his bosses act like "Well, he's strange, violent, delusional and ridiculous, but the police department simply can't work without him!"

That's funny. There is a crime show from New Zealand, The Brokenwood Mysteries (kind of like Midsomer Murder), where the lead detective talks to the dead victims (they not seen or heard to talk back to him). They don't make much of it, just some quirk which is kind of lame after a few episodes. The show features Pana Hema Taylor (Nasir from Starz's Spartacus) as a series regular showing up every now and then and helping with the investigation with his insider knowledge.

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by Anonymousreply 103January 12, 2018 9:50 PM

Love lady Felicia and mrs Mc CARTHY . Hate the niece in Father Brown . Loved Morse Foyle ‘s War have it on dvd . Poirot and mrs Marple . London Sky was also very good . The Blechley Circle also good . Maria,Lang Mysteries for the beautiful clothing and the 50’s atmosphere . Target the first,season . Cracker also not bad

by Anonymousreply 104January 13, 2018 8:42 AM

R103, I've watched Brokenwood Mysteries as well, didn't think much of it. Quirky characters in a small NZ town that apparently is plagues with murders, yes, it's very Midsomer-ish. The cast does include Nic Sampson however... man I saw him and thought, who's the hot-ginger man? Pic shows him w a beard, which he never has on the show...

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by Anonymousreply 105January 13, 2018 9:11 AM

r105, love NIc. They do this TV show trope with his character's fiance where they mention her plenty of times but have not yet shown her in person (will they ever?).

by Anonymousreply 106January 13, 2018 9:26 AM

Both Season 1 and Season 2 of Unforgotten have gay characters in them.

by Anonymousreply 107January 14, 2018 6:28 PM

Regarding New Zealand's The Brokenwood Mysteries. The fourth season, which aired last year, is pretty great. One of the episodes has a gay twist. Pana Hema Taylor left the show but they got a pretty hot replacement, Rawiri Jobe.

Link leads to stills of him from a different show.

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by Anonymousreply 108January 15, 2018 6:25 PM

If you like “Unforgotten” you might like “Fearless”. Helen McCrory Of ‘Penny Dreadful’ plays a lawyer representing a man wrongly convicted for murder. Jonathan Forbes (Fergal in ‘Catastrophe’) plays her investigator who happens to be gay.

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by Anonymousreply 109January 16, 2018 9:23 PM

R90 I loved Shetlands even with all the muffled Scottish brogue. It aired last winter in PBS and thought it might return . May have to look elsewhere for remaining seasons.

by Anonymousreply 110January 16, 2018 9:32 PM

Shetland returns for Season 4 this year.

Season 3 was the best so far, IMO.

by Anonymousreply 111January 16, 2018 9:44 PM

“Silent Witness” can be hit and miss (and I generally avoid all the seasons before Emilia Fox joined the series) but I highly recommend the following episodes in particular:

Season 13 - Shadows

Season 14 - Bloodlines

Season 18 - Fallen Angels

Each story on the show is presented a two part episode (I.e. two one hour long episodes).

by Anonymousreply 112January 16, 2018 10:57 PM

S2 of "Unforgotten" was probably the best of the recent UK crime dramas. I liked it better than either "Broadchurch" or "Happy Valley."

by Anonymousreply 113January 17, 2018 12:34 AM

After seeing all the recs for Unforgotten on DL, I have tried to find it streaming in the US. It is just not available anywhere that I can find. Has anybody in US watched it streaming? If you have, do you have secrets for streaming UK shows these days? I have read that it's gotten much harder than a few years ago.

by Anonymousreply 114January 17, 2018 12:59 AM

It should be on iTunes. I wasn't able to stream it on any service in Canada either.

by Anonymousreply 115January 17, 2018 1:09 AM

r114 -[cough] putlockers.mn [cough]

by Anonymousreply 116January 17, 2018 1:49 AM

r114 here: Thanks r116 for the tip. However, for those who are able to wait, I just saw on a website of upcoming TV shows that "Unforgotten" will be shown on PBS starting Sunday April 8. I've waited this long--might as well wait a few more months. When I looked on Putlockers.mn I couldn't find it by the way, although I didn't spend much time looking.

by Anonymousreply 117January 19, 2018 12:44 AM

It might be on BBC America (in Canada, it originally aired on BBC Canada but I missed it.) Have you checked if it's available for streaming on their US website?

by Anonymousreply 118January 19, 2018 12:53 AM

John Nettles is a smoking hot daddy. Not at all my type, but I would bend over for him in a heartbeat.

by Anonymousreply 119January 19, 2018 1:35 AM

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

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by Anonymousreply 120January 19, 2018 1:39 AM

He was always kind of fuckable.

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by Anonymousreply 121January 19, 2018 1:40 AM

Yes, Nettles is hot!

Just watched my first Agatha Raisin. Do not bother.

by Anonymousreply 122January 19, 2018 1:44 AM

[quote]Just watched my first Agatha Raisin. Do not bother.

But it has a gay character in it. It's required watching for DL.

by Anonymousreply 123January 19, 2018 1:46 AM

Hugh Grant plays gay lover to Ben Wishaw

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by Anonymousreply 124January 19, 2018 1:49 AM

Where can I watch Unforgotten? Netflix? Amazon?

I'm also a Nicola Walker fan.

by Anonymousreply 125January 19, 2018 1:51 AM

[quote] Where can I watch Unforgotten? Netflix? Amazon?

See r116

by Anonymousreply 126January 19, 2018 1:54 AM

How many decades ago were those John Nettles pics taken? He was all bloat on Midsomer Murders.

by Anonymousreply 127January 19, 2018 8:41 AM

Unforgotten has not been available on any regular streaming site (or PBS) up til now in US--I've been looking for it off and on for a couple of years. However, as I said above--it will start showing on PBS on April 8 (just found that out). I'm a Nicola Walker fan too (and now that I've watched The Indian Doctor--a very mediocre show--I also am a fan of whatsisname--Sanjeev Bhaskar--really good actor).

by Anonymousreply 128January 19, 2018 7:13 PM

Unforgotten - Season One is good but Season Two is so much better, IMO.

Not exactly in the mystery genre but ‘Line of Duty’ is a riveting police procedural. There have been four great seasons so far, and a fifth season is set to air in 2019.

by Anonymousreply 129January 19, 2018 11:03 PM

I love Miss Fisher and I hope they renew her program.

by Anonymousreply 130January 21, 2018 4:29 AM

Given how hot Essie Davis' international career is right now I doubt she will commit to more Miss Fisher seasons any time soon.

by Anonymousreply 131January 21, 2018 8:34 AM

For those of you who have watched Midsomer Murders. Do you think the 90 minute episode is too long and dragged out or do you think they need that time to build the story? A lot of people have complained about it, but it never bothered me.

by Anonymousreply 132January 21, 2018 12:08 PM

I think they're planning on doing a "Miss Fisher" movie (or two.)

by Anonymousreply 133January 21, 2018 5:27 PM

Midsomer Murders length is excellent for falling asleep to. Whenever I am feeling a little wired before bed, I can put on any random MM episode and bingo--out like a light. Now even the theme music (which I find inexplicably enjoyable) makes my eyelids heavy. I don't think I have ever watched a full episode all the way through. Strange how they can murder all those people and you feel absolutely nothing--it's an interesting premise--the murder victims are just props really, so...it's all very lulling.

by Anonymousreply 134January 21, 2018 10:33 PM

I just finished reading a murder mystery titled "Magpie Murders" by Anthony Horowitz. He created Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War for British TV and of course PBS has broadcast those shows for years.

The man certainly knows the genre and if you're curious to see how clever he can be, try reading "Magpie". I liked it, found both the resolution to both big mysteries satisfying, but I don't need to on the book, glad I got the copy from the library.

by Anonymousreply 135January 22, 2018 9:07 AM

Just caught Diana Rigg in the Mrs. Bradley series. As enjoyable as any other, but the casting was pretty bad. The actress who turned out to be the murderer was far too old for her ingenue role (she was pretty enough but had bad facial wrinkling). And the maid was supposed to be pretty and saucy (gathered from the dialogue) was a dumpy middle-aged woman who was quite butch. She had beautiful bone structure.

by Anonymousreply 136January 22, 2018 10:24 AM

I like Rowan Atkinson's Maigret.

Not as good as the french version and quite cliché but I like it anyway.

by Anonymousreply 137January 22, 2018 10:27 AM

So many of the series you mention are great.

If you like Scottish and Northern English, then “Vera “ is a favourite. I love her.

I liked “Rebus “ as well, ,pretty gritty, but great.

Another series set in Scotland , which is only six episodes is “Loch Ness” , which was good..

My favourite is still “ Dalziel and Pascoe”. Love it

A sort of mystery , suspense, political intrigue, alternative history SS - GB. It is set in 1941 and Britain lost to Germany and America is neutral but is helping the underground resistance in England. It focuses on an English detective who has to work with the SS in solving a crime. I loved it.

by Anonymousreply 138January 22, 2018 11:11 AM

father brown is so bad cause of the clownish bloat who plays the father.

unwatchable, comic bafoon

by Anonymousreply 139January 22, 2018 12:51 PM

He doesn’t ham it up enough, IMO!

by Anonymousreply 140January 22, 2018 1:13 PM

luv Grantchester

fun actors, and the lead is such a doll, luv his young nelly assist preacher

by Anonymousreply 141January 22, 2018 1:14 PM

I've been DVRing Hinterland from one of the local PBS stations - in fact I just finished watching the end of season 3 this morning.

It's basically a noirish detective series set a harsh wind-swept world (Wales) populated with worn down people.

Richard Harrington is really compelling in the lead, and I'm starting to find him oddly sexy.

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by Anonymousreply 142January 22, 2018 1:27 PM

What is the name of the British show that has a female lawyer as the lead. She got sacked from her firm, opened up an office in the warehouse behind a coffee shop, has a gay assistant who sleeps on the sofa in the office. It was on either Acorn or Britbox. I binge watched everything, but I have never seen more episodes.

by Anonymousreply 143January 23, 2018 4:54 PM

[quote]What is the name of the British show that has a female lawyer as the lead.

Striking Out. Season 2 has already started airing in the UK.

by Anonymousreply 144January 23, 2018 5:26 PM

[quote] bafoon

Jesus Fucking Christ. This isn't 1998 with teenaged snerts running around online. Honestly, I don't think I've seen this idiotic misspelling in this century.

by Anonymousreply 145January 23, 2018 5:31 PM

Has anyone seen Les Petits Meurtres D'Agatha Christie? It's French series based on Agatha Christie's novels, the first season the main detective was paired with a gay sidekick. It's available through Acorn (I get the add-on Channel from Amazon Video). It's quite fun.

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by Anonymousreply 146January 23, 2018 8:19 PM

R146 I watched the first arch with the gay detective. I am currently in the middle of the new series with the female journalist and the dumb blonde secretary. Yes, it's quite funny. Some episodes are more successful than others in terms of adapting the novels and changing the plot to fit the new lead characters.

There is also a miniseries (Petits meurtres en famille) with the 2 detectives starring in the first series. It was the success of the miniseries that gave the TV channel idea to transfer it into a series even if plot-wise it didn't make sense given the final of the miniseries.

by Anonymousreply 147January 23, 2018 8:30 PM

Les petits meurtres are great. I saw them all, but I'm french.

by Anonymousreply 148January 23, 2018 8:40 PM

Speaking of The Bletchley Circle and Diana Rigg. Diana Riggs' daughter, Rachel Stirling, plays one of the 4 leads in Bletchley. She is in a lot of Brit shows including a really good Inspector Lewis with the dishy Lawrence Fox.

by Anonymousreply 149January 24, 2018 2:12 AM

[quote]Speaking of The Bletchley Circle and Diana Rigg. Diana Riggs' daughter, Rachel Stirling, plays one of the 4 leads in Bletchley.

She and the Scottish woman are going to the US to help the code breakers in San Francisco.

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by Anonymousreply 150January 24, 2018 2:22 AM

I'm down to the last three episodes of "Midsomer Murders" available on Netflix. (Season 19.) Any idea when they're going to get Season 20?

by Anonymousreply 151January 24, 2018 5:21 AM

Any advice Acorn programs. I am getting to the bottom or the barrel. I get really frustrated that the have one or two seasons of something and then drop it. My have-seens are as follows:

ACORN

Loch Ness

Agatha Raisin

Black Work

Chasing Shadows

Vera

Still Life

Murder in Suburbia

Pie in the Sky

Mr & Mrs Murder

Miss Fisher's

George Gently

Field of Blood

Above Suspicion

All Agatha Christie

I find Vexed unwatchable. Not fond of Murdoch Mysteries, but I should probably try the original series.

by Anonymousreply 152January 24, 2018 11:17 AM

I was disappointed by Black Work. Sheridan Smith- who I have liked in other stuff - had an annoying half-smile during the entire series including the dramatic scenes. And a really, really unflattering haircut.

by Anonymousreply 153January 24, 2018 11:30 AM

Julie Graham - the woman on the left in R150’s post - is in fucking everything! I can’t seem to get away from her.

by Anonymousreply 154January 24, 2018 11:33 AM

[quote]Julie Graham - the woman on the left in [R150]’s post - is in fucking everything! I can’t seem to get away from her.

Have you seen her in Benidorm? Half her arm has this huge tattoo on it.

by Anonymousreply 155January 24, 2018 12:45 PM

I love Trial & Retribution (available on Acorn), not cosy at all but very well done. Some of the episodes are very disturbing so be warned.

by Anonymousreply 156January 24, 2018 12:55 PM

STRIKING OUT is Irish. Not up to much, really, but the men in it are hot.

by Anonymousreply 157January 24, 2018 1:10 PM

My local PBS station has started airing The Syndicate. It looked very promising at first and possibly a lot of fun.

It rapidly devolved into a tiresome soap.

by Anonymousreply 158January 24, 2018 7:29 PM

Thank you, R150. I loved The Bletchley Circle. Especially the original if the four who had to hide from her husband how damn brilliant she was. I loved when he finally leanred what she did during the war and told his children when they asked why his parents were being given a ride home by the military, "Because your mommy is a hero."

Goose bumps. Tears in eyes.

by Anonymousreply 159January 24, 2018 8:36 PM

[quote]My local PBS station has started airing The Syndicate. It looked very promising at first and possibly a lot of fun. It rapidly devolved into a tiresome soap.

All of Kay Mellor's shows are soap. She currently has Girlfriends running starring Miranda Richardson, Zoe Wannamaker and Phyllis Logan. There's not one soap cliche she hasn't already used and we're only on Episode 4.

by Anonymousreply 160January 25, 2018 11:40 AM

R158 - Season 3 Of The Syndicate was pretty good, especially compared to S1 (I haven’t yet seen S2). I may be biased, though, as it starred hot as fuck Richard Rankin.

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by Anonymousreply 161January 25, 2018 11:45 AM

R155, I am guilty of having watched Benidorm, which is the UK equivalent of The Love Boat. Truly awful.

But the actor who plays her son (Josh Bolt, who also played Nicola Walker’s son in Halifax) is a cutie.

by Anonymousreply 162January 25, 2018 11:48 AM

Unfortunately in Girlfriends, they picked the ugliest actor in the cast to be the gay character.

by Anonymousreply 163January 25, 2018 11:49 AM

Who plays the gay character? ^

by Anonymousreply 164January 25, 2018 11:55 AM

[quote]I am guilty of having watched Benidorm, which is the UK equivalent of The Love Boat. Truly awful.

I thought the early seasons of Benidorm were funny. You could tell a gay man was writing the character of Madge because it was dialogue ripped right out of daily Datalounge. But the later seasons are not that good. When they brought on Tiger and Joey, it really stank. The Liam/Kenneth dynamic is funny and the older ladies like Jacqueline and the mother of the fat guy are funny (the Rubella joke was hilarious). I find it funny that all the fathers throughout the series seem to be putzes. They haven't had one father who was butch. What is Derren Litten trying to tell us about British men?

I just watch now to gaze upon the muscles of Mateo.

by Anonymousreply 165January 25, 2018 11:57 AM

[quote]Who plays the gay character?

Philip Cumbus. He has a gap in his front teeth and 9,000 moles on the left side of his face and for some reason the cameraman keeps filming him from the back left side.

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by Anonymousreply 166January 25, 2018 12:03 PM

Benidorm and Love Boat are nothing alike. One is a sharp comedy (that tailed off in later seasons), the other is a pile of schmaltzy mush.

by Anonymousreply 167January 25, 2018 12:03 PM

The Love Boat hired talented entertainers to sing like Ethel Merman and Anne Miller. In Benidorm, we have to put up with the main cast screeching through bad karaoke. It must be some type of joke that every single cast member has to sing a karaoke song, whether they can sing or not.

by Anonymousreply 168January 25, 2018 12:06 PM

I have only seen the later seasons of Benidorm. I’ll have to try an early season. Thanks!

by Anonymousreply 169January 25, 2018 1:09 PM

Zoe Wanamaker has no lips!

by Anonymousreply 170January 25, 2018 1:11 PM

Loving all the recommendations in this thread.

Lately I watched the recent versions of Witness for the Prosecution and Crooked House. They were well done, but strained a little too hard to not be cozy. Witness for the Prosecution, in particular, was the televisual equivalent of having your face shoved in an armpit. I think I prefer the Wilder film.

Next up, I'm finally getting around to watching Broadchurch and finishing the Joan Hickson Marples

I didn't know Rachel Stirling is Diana Rigg's daughter! Did you know that Toby Stephens is the son of Maggie Smith?

by Anonymousreply 171January 25, 2018 1:18 PM

[quote]Zoe Wanamaker has no lips!

Or talent.

by Anonymousreply 172January 25, 2018 2:02 PM

[quote]I have only seen the later seasons of Benidorm. I’ll have to try an early season. Thanks!

The earlier seasons are quirkier. Siobhan Hicks (from Downton Abbey) is great. In the show, the actress who plays her mother Madge is a scream!

Here's a clip from Season 1.

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by Anonymousreply 173January 25, 2018 2:14 PM

That should be Siobhan Finneran, not Siobhan Hicks.

by Anonymousreply 174January 25, 2018 2:14 PM

[quote] Here's a clip from Season 1.

Ooops, I actually think that clip is from Season 2.

by Anonymousreply 175January 25, 2018 2:19 PM

I must confess that I feel a little guilty liking Benidorm. I confirms every prejudice that I have against people who go on such vacations. I also rather like the Victoria Wood sketch about all-inclusive vacations in Spain.

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by Anonymousreply 176January 25, 2018 2:24 PM

r161, I love Richard Rankin, too!

by Anonymousreply 177January 25, 2018 2:44 PM

Yes of course I knew Toby Stephens was Maggie Smith's son. Shit I watch WETA -UK like 24/7 except when I have to work. He's very attractive - even when he played this creepy killer on an episode of Waking the Dead.

by Anonymousreply 178January 26, 2018 5:08 AM

I can strongly recommend

- The 3 episode "Heat of the Sun" series starring Trevor Eve as a Scotland Yard detective banished to be the new detective in Kenya in the 1930s. Focus on the decadent upper class colony of British colonialists mixed with the local Africans. Only 3 stories, unfortunately, but very well done.

- "Jack Irish" - An Australian show starring Guy Pearce. It started with a couple of TV "movies" and now has had at least one short series. The Australian setting is interesting, the supporting characters are original and the plots well done. You have to start with the movie "Jack Irish: Black Tide" for the first as it gives the setup and crucial shocking plot event. Follow up with "Jack Irish: Bad Debts" and "Jack Irish: Dead Point". After those 3, follow with "Jack Irish: The Series" which is the first Series of 6 episodes.

by Anonymousreply 179January 26, 2018 6:03 AM

Great R179, but where does one see those? They are not on Britbox or AconTV.

by Anonymousreply 180January 26, 2018 9:43 AM

Try Jack Taylor (Irish) on Netflix, with Iain Glen.

by Anonymousreply 181January 26, 2018 9:46 AM

R180, move to DC. One of our pbs channels has Brit & Australian shows 24/7. I have been obsessed since it went on the air maybe 4or 5 years ago. Google WETA-Uk for all the shows.

Yes Jack Irish is really good. So is Jack Taylor. Sexy men, great acting, great stpries and writing.

by Anonymousreply 182January 26, 2018 1:13 PM

Jack Irish is on Acorn (or Britbox), I can't remember which one since I have both. It's a great show.

by Anonymousreply 183January 26, 2018 2:30 PM

Can I ask? How does Acorn and Britbox work? Are they cable channels you watch on your tv? Or do you watch them on your computer?

by Anonymousreply 184January 26, 2018 2:40 PM

I get Acorn and Britbox through Amazon, they are add-on channels. Acorn is 4.99/month and Britbox is $6.99. I also get MHz and Walter Presents because I like international TV shows (especially French and Scandinavian). You can also get them separate if you have a Roku or Apple TV but I prefer to have them all in one place. I can cancel at anytime if I get tired of them but so far I like having all these options. I don't have cable.. You can also watch on your computer but I only use them for my tv.

by Anonymousreply 185January 26, 2018 2:49 PM

I would also strongly recommend Montalbano.

I first caught some episodes on my local PBS station which featured international mysteries on MHz.

This Italian show, based on a set of books, features a police inspector living in Sicily. Stars Luca Zingaretti.

Great scenery, great plots, wonderful supporting characters including his police colleagues. And the food!!! The main character loves food and it is featured in many of the episodes. Not to mention his great apartment, literally right on the water.

Like taking a trip to Sicily.

Subtitled from the Italian, but the shows are so good, who cares?

I guess they have started another series supposedly staring the Young Montalbano. I haven't watched it since I like the original too much.

Below are the opening credits for one of the episodes. You can see the home of the main character at the bottom left half of the screen at the 1:00 minute.

Is it always sunny in Sicily? This is a great show to watch in the gloomy winter months.

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by Anonymousreply 186January 26, 2018 8:21 PM

bump

by Anonymousreply 187January 27, 2018 6:06 AM

[quote] I like Death in Paradise with the first 2 lead detectives. They just switched over to a 3rd and he doesn't work for me. Perhaps because they had him be a sad sack widower with a grown daughter who came with him.

Plus, he's Dougal! No more be wants to see Dougal solving crimes

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by Anonymousreply 188January 27, 2018 6:02 PM

I'd fuck Luca Zingaretti senseless. Total DILF!

by Anonymousreply 189January 27, 2018 10:54 PM

R142

I've started watching the third season of Hinterland myself. Agreed that the detective is sexy in a tragic, brooding way.

by Anonymousreply 190January 27, 2018 11:09 PM

r135, thanks for bringing up Anthony Horowitz and his latest novel Magpie Murders.

I loved it! Great fun for anyone here who enjoys all these Brit mysteries written by the master who created Foyle's War. I wish Horowitz would do another series.

Does anyone remember a fantastic 2009 miniseries he did about the implications of a highway crash outside of London and how all of its victims and participants related to each other? It's called Collision (and it's so much greater than that lazy title!). Highly recommended!!

by Anonymousreply 191January 27, 2018 11:13 PM

R191, nice to see there's another Horowitz fan here. I don't about the 2009 mini-series, but Anthony is certainly a writer who can weave together, many different threads into one cloth.

He's also written two novels Sherlock Holmes novels. I loved the first, "House of Silk" - it really felt like one of Doyle's best adventures/mysteries, but with a subject matter he could never have tackled. I didn't care for the second work, "Moriarity". There was something cruel about the plot that left a bad taste in my mouth.

by Anonymousreply 192January 28, 2018 10:25 AM

I watched Collision per a recommendation here. Fantastic! I also watched the making of the pivotal scene. Very good if you are interested in the nuts and bolts of these things and the absolute precision and planning that goes into creating a multi car pile up.

I loved Zoe Wanamaker in Poirot.

I can recommend The Missing. It is a show you must watch carefully as it gives you whiplash changing settings and flashing back and forth through time but well worth the trouble. I just finished the second series, set on a British military base in Germany, with crusty retired French detective Julien Baptiste among a cast of interesting characters. A 16 year old girl goes missing and years later suddenly reappears. Her parents are overjoyed...but is she who she says she is? Is she Anna, daughter of a British military man, or Sophie, a young French girl abducted a few years earlier?

by Anonymousreply 193January 28, 2018 11:12 AM

Sadly, Midsomer Murders started slipping once Brian True-May left.

Has anyone tried “The Happy Valley”?

by Anonymousreply 194January 28, 2018 12:05 PM

HAPPY VALLEY??

Are you kidding? It's one of the best Brit series ever, especially Season 1. It was mentioned several times and quite favorably early in this thread. It introduced all of us to the glorious James Norton, playing very opposite his type in GRANTCHESTER. Also starring the ubiquitous Sarah Lancashire and Siobhan Finneran.

When is Season 3 finally coming out on Netflix?

by Anonymousreply 195January 28, 2018 1:15 PM

[quote]When is Season 3 finally coming out on Netflix?

2019. The writer, Sally Wainwright, is so busy with other projects, she hasn't had time to focus her attention on Happy Valley. I think they all thought it was going to be a one and done show and then it became so much more successful.

by Anonymousreply 196January 28, 2018 1:53 PM

I love British murder mystery shows. My favourites are “Luther”, “Unforgotten”, and “Vera”. Loved “Whitechapel”. “Wire In the Blood”, based on Val McDermid’s twisted books was great. “Silk”, about british lawyers (solicitors) was excellent. I just find Brit shows don’t hit you over the head with the obvious, have cleverer twists, and are more challenging. Plus Idris Elba (Luther), and Rupert Penry-Jones (Whitechapel & Silk) are HOT.

by Anonymousreply 197January 28, 2018 2:53 PM

‘Scott and Bailey’ is another great show from Sally Wainwright. It falls more in the genre of a police procedural than a British mystery series, though.

Sally took time out last year to do that boring miniseries about the Bronte sisters. I wish she would go back to writing the shows she made popular, specifically Happy Valley and Last Tango In Halifax.

by Anonymousreply 198January 28, 2018 8:47 PM

I really enjoyed a miniseries that Sally Wainwright did years ago with Suranne Jones (Scott and Bailey) called ‘Unforgiven’. Siobhan Finneran from Happy Valley and Downton Abbry co-starred.

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by Anonymousreply 199January 28, 2018 8:59 PM

[quote]I really enjoyed a miniseries that Sally Wainwright did years ago with Suranne Jones (Scott and Bailey) called ‘Unforgiven’.

I thought it was really good until the end. The ending seemed like she just needed an ending and tacked on the stupidest, quickest ending she thought believable.

by Anonymousreply 200January 28, 2018 9:07 PM

I would also recommend "Marcella" with Anna Friel. S1 was very good and they filmed S2 this past summer. It also stars a DL favourite, Jamie Bamber.

by Anonymousreply 201January 28, 2018 9:35 PM

Was Father Brown's first name ever revealed? And is everyone in Kembleford a Catholic? And how does Inspector Mallory keep his job?

by Anonymousreply 202January 29, 2018 4:18 PM

[quote]Was Father Brown's first name ever revealed?

His first name is "The Difficult."

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by Anonymousreply 203January 29, 2018 5:10 PM

[quote] And is everyone in Kembleford a Catholic?

the first episode featured the local Anglican priest. IIRC he murdered his brother because he discovered he was gay

by Anonymousreply 204January 29, 2018 5:41 PM

I watched Midsomer Murders last night because I knew the killer on the Murder, She Wrote episodes that HMM was running. They start at 10 so it's the perfect thing to drift off to by 11 or midnight.

MSM is too long. Some of the plots, even early on are campy and there have been several episodes where I stop after a half hour. Someone above said it best, "20 minutes of action stretched into a 90 minute teleplay." Some episodes are ok and I do enjoy them from time to time, but it is not my go to. Jason Hughes is handsome.

I grew up on Murder, She Wrote so when I discovered Agatha Christie and especially Poirot I was really happy. While Netflix had ITV's Poirot I watched them all. I still try to seek out old episodes on youtube where I have forgotten the killer. To me these are the best that British mystery has to offer. Not ITV, I mean Poirot in general and Sucet in particular.

Miss Fisher is laughable. There are some episodes that there is literally only one suspect and it still goes on for an hour. I do like the scenery and her house but it is not a well written show.

I want to try Foyle's War (is it?) but it looked a little dark and gritty.

Father Brown was enjoyable for the first three seasons, the one involving the handsome young priest is one of my favorites. It lost it's steam.

Rosemary and Tyne was a waste of time and money.

Miss Marple is hit or miss. The Joan Hickson ones are the best produced so far but they don't do much for me. The ITV series was awful. I did enjoy Geraldine McEwan, but the second Miss. Marple was cold and I hated that she got to do my favorite, "The Mirror Crack'd."

Death in Paradise is one of my favorites. I know it had a formula that you could set your watch by, but it's just fun. I have seen all 4 seasons on netflix. The second Dectective is my favorite. He wore comfortable looking suits. There was less of that silly and childish "fish out of water" comedy. I actually remember in one episode a colluge had stpeed off the plane from London in January and both men almost cream themselves over "the icy fog and crunch of frost underneath the soles of your shoes." Yeah, that is my favorite part of year and I would bitch, piss and moan like crazy if I had to live in Caribbean through January.... The first Detective just didn't work for me. Read that he was a comic in the UK.

by Anonymousreply 205January 29, 2018 7:20 PM

Have you tried Shetland, R205?

by Anonymousreply 206January 29, 2018 7:23 PM

[quote] The first Detective just didn't work for me. Read that he was a comic in the UK.

He does a brilliant Rupert Murdoch on Tracey Ullman's show.

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by Anonymousreply 207January 29, 2018 8:02 PM

r205 - you must try Foyle's War.

I wouldn't call it "dark and gritty" but you're definitely ready for something a little more mature. Each episode is not a tidy wrapped up whodunnit but there's far more texture and complexity than the average Agatha Christie story.

by Anonymousreply 208January 29, 2018 8:11 PM

There's also The Last Detective featuring Peter Davison (Dr. Who).

by Anonymousreply 209January 29, 2018 8:31 PM

The miniseries ‘Marchlands’ and it’s sequel ‘Lightfields’ are fun supernatural mysteries.

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by Anonymousreply 210January 29, 2018 8:44 PM

[quote]MSM is too long. Some of the plots, even early on are campy

Go to your room and stay there until you can behave properly!!

Originally MSM was supposed to be campy. The original premise was that there were all these quirky people who lived in small villages in an area like the Cotswolds and that the murder disrupted their fetes and fayres. It sort of lost its way from that but I think it still has something about it. Obviously it has something going for it because they are filming the 20th season. It's like the Gunsmoke of British tv.

I like the 90 minute format because it allows for more characters. When you're dealing with those stately homes, you have the rich people and their servants and then their extended family as possible suspects.

by Anonymousreply 211January 29, 2018 9:33 PM

Yeah, MSM was funnier/campier in the beginning. Pagan festivals, murderously competitive birdwatchers, snobby wine connoisseurs, scheming orchid growers, mad old men and women mentally stuck in WWII ....there's nothing realistic about it. To me, it's the English version of Law and Order -- a tv show I use as sominex. Formulaic and as familiar as a favorite old bathrobe. It's tv to fall asleep by.

(And yes, I know there was a Law and Order UK.)

by Anonymousreply 212January 29, 2018 11:13 PM

Thanks guys and in particular R206. I will look for that later on.

R211. I completely get there you’re coming from and I was harsh on it. These shows are difficult to film and they do their best in most cases I just thought that the writing would get out there even for British standards.

One thing I don’t like about MSM are the people. There have been several bad depictions of people who made money under Thatcher as boorish thugs. One episode in particular was pretty nasty.

Barnaby is so decent and tries to instil in all his partners (blanking on the uk term. I watch this show while preparing for bed) a sense of common sense of basic morality yet he’s surrounded by douche bags and losers. Many of whom are liable to kill. His wife is plain but a good woman. His daughter is useless and could have either been written off or really brought into the show and had a fulfilling role. Instead she’s an actress that waits tables.

Barnaby never gets his due though he is well respected so that’s realistic but I thought it was completely unrealistic that he would consider cheating on his wife. It was in one of his later episodes and the woman had really screwed up teeth not to be unkind. I can’t help but think that he read that script and thought what the hell are they thinking

by Anonymousreply 213January 30, 2018 12:33 AM

Does anyone remember the Christmas special Miss Fishers Murder Myseries? It’s still available on Netflix I think.

It is such a shit show it’s not even so bad it’s good like some of the Marples.

by Anonymousreply 214January 30, 2018 12:44 AM

I liked the early Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries, when Miss Fisher was turning on every hunk in Melbourne Australia! After Miss Fisher set her sights on the police detective, the show took a turn for the worse.

by Anonymousreply 215January 30, 2018 1:55 AM

Miss Fisher is worth watching if only for her fabulous costumes.

by Anonymousreply 216January 30, 2018 5:23 AM

R216. The costumes suck. They were OK the first season, but they gave up trying the second. Far too many costumes were modern off the rack clothes that were tweaked to look vaguely 1920s.

by Anonymousreply 217January 30, 2018 9:28 AM

The first Barnaby, on Midsomer Murders, was a self righteous dick who treated his assistants like idiots (the first one was a douche and an idiot though). His wife was a saint to put up with him. I believe, on a subconscious level, she deliberately stumbled into murder and mayhem so much to get away from him by being murdered.

by Anonymousreply 218January 30, 2018 9:39 AM

Daniel Casey/Sergent Troy a douche?

by Anonymousreply 219January 30, 2018 9:45 AM

Troy was a dickhead.

by Anonymousreply 220January 30, 2018 9:48 AM

YUM. That must be some delicious cock!

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by Anonymousreply 221January 30, 2018 10:13 AM

[quote]Daniel Casey/Sergent Troy a douche?

Yeah, a homophobic one like whenever the murder cases involved gay suspects.

by Anonymousreply 222January 30, 2018 10:17 AM

R16 That's what "they" want you to think.

by Anonymousreply 223January 30, 2018 10:26 AM

Does anyone know if there will be a 3rd season of Homefires? I had no idea they were going to leave us hanging (perhaps forever) with that season 2 cliff hanger.

by Anonymousreply 224January 30, 2018 10:43 AM

R222, god you are dense. Yes, he was at first so Barnaby can make the correction. Barnaby has to have someone to react to. That is not true of later cases, Unless you mean the Richard Cant characters, who were intentionally creepy and off-putting (Though technically not gay as at least one was sleeping with is his mother as I recall.)

by Anonymousreply 225January 30, 2018 10:43 AM

[quote] god you are dense. Yes, he was at first so Barnaby can make the correction.

Well, duh! Doesn't take away from the fact that they were both dicks. Unless you can point me to an actual scene where Troy was ok with gays at the end. One suspect,a young gay man, appeared in two episodes and in both Troy was very dismissive towards him and it wasn't just about the character being shady in other ways. I believe at one point he even referred to the guy as bum-boy.

by Anonymousreply 226January 30, 2018 10:55 AM

R226, I think you are referring to Richard Cant who played two different characters. I can't pretend to remember the details of all 6 years that the Sergeant Troy was a character, but he definitely evolved. That his probably why they replaced him. There was nowhere else to go with the character other than marrying him off to Barnaby's daughter.

Now the next sergeant was a douche from start to finish. The actor playing him, apparently, was as well.

Speaking of Cully, remember when she had a boyfriend in the early episodes? I got the feeling that they were considering a spin-off, but it never happened. There really was no other reason for the character.

by Anonymousreply 227January 30, 2018 11:07 AM

no r227, I am referring to Daniel Casey's Sgt. Gavin Troy.

And Cully married a musician, not a cop. Probably the best decision she ever made.

by Anonymousreply 228January 30, 2018 11:15 AM

The second Barnaby assistant was played by a gay actor. Character was a douche, barely lasted one season.

by Anonymousreply 229January 30, 2018 11:22 AM

Tom Barbaby was not a dick.

Are you sure John Hopkins (Dan Scott) is gay?

by Anonymousreply 230January 30, 2018 11:25 AM

R228, I was referring to the gay character. As far as I know, Richard Cant is the only actor to have played gay in two episodes.

by Anonymousreply 231January 30, 2018 11:26 AM

By the way, Dan Scott was Barnaby's DC for two seasons, not one.

by Anonymousreply 232January 30, 2018 11:33 AM

R230, how can one tell nowadays since every actor has his personal life scrubbed from his IMDB and Wiki pages.

Cully's first BF was an actor like her.

by Anonymousreply 233January 30, 2018 11:34 AM

R233 I've checked Internet and saw nothing about John Hopkins being gay. Sorry for asking.

by Anonymousreply 234January 30, 2018 11:37 AM

r231, there was another one. A young man who in his episode is someone's boytoy and in the other (a cricket themed one) gets murdered for blackmailing a woman (and her daughter) out for revenge.

by Anonymousreply 235January 30, 2018 11:50 AM

R235, ah, I do remember that. Thanks

by Anonymousreply 236January 30, 2018 11:58 AM

After *10* seasons of Midsomer, we finally got this! And I got the vapors!!

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by Anonymousreply 237January 30, 2018 12:09 PM

[quote]Does anyone know if there will be a 3rd season of Homefires? I had no idea they were going to leave us hanging (perhaps forever) with that season 2 cliff hanger.

No, there won't be a 3rd season. I even signed a petition asking for one. I think the author has written some e-books taking the characters beyond the tv show.

It's like the show where Stephen Fry played the lawyer (Kingdom). They did two or three seasons of that and then just dropped it. They even had scripts written for the next season, but the network refused to go on with it. And that had some well known actors in it. In addition to Fry, there was Celia Imrie, Hermione Norris and Emma Thompson's mother.

by Anonymousreply 238January 30, 2018 12:19 PM

[quote]YUM. That must be some delicious cock!

Check out his earlier show "This Life." He plays a gay character in that, but I don't think he gets nude in it. However, Andrew Lincoln does. You see full frontal when he gets out of the shower.

by Anonymousreply 239January 30, 2018 12:23 PM

I also find Toby Stephens very attractive. I acquired the series of Raymond Chandler radio plays he did for the BBC. As a Chandler fan I could pick bones, but having Stephens growl in your ear is worth it.

I've been thinking about canceling Netflix. Maybe I'll do AcornTV instead.

by Anonymousreply 240January 30, 2018 4:40 PM

Did any of you know that Anthony Head was the younger brother of Murray Head (Jesus Christ Superstar)?

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by Anonymousreply 241January 30, 2018 5:20 PM

^^^Yes.

by Anonymousreply 242January 30, 2018 5:24 PM

I just had to post that I love Rosemary and Thyme. It's mindless fun with two engaging older female characters and gorgeous scenery.

by Anonymousreply 243January 31, 2018 6:08 AM

I love Rosemary and Thyme. I am surprised that it's from this millenia (2003-2006), because to me it has this 80s / early 90s feel to it somehow.

by Anonymousreply 244January 31, 2018 1:53 PM

Darnit, sorry . I mean I am surprised that it's from the 2000s

by Anonymousreply 245January 31, 2018 1:57 PM

I loved the actors on Broadchurch, but found the stories ridiculously contrived.

by Anonymousreply 246January 31, 2018 2:02 PM

Weird thing about Rosemary & Thyme for me - I LOVED the first episode. But completely lost interest after that. It made me think that maybe it would've been better as an expanded stand-alone movie.

I just finished watching the last episode of Murder in Suburbia (which I didn't discover until a local PBS station began rerunning it recently) and it's pleasant enough. Although I think the reason I kept watching was because I thought the male boss was cute.

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by Anonymousreply 247January 31, 2018 2:03 PM

[quote] His (Barnaby's) wife is plain but a good woman.

She was pretty when she was younger

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by Anonymousreply 248January 31, 2018 2:24 PM

And look who her sister was -- Veruca Salt!

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by Anonymousreply 249January 31, 2018 2:27 PM

Season Three of Broadchurch seemed ridiculous to me. Would they really be able to devote that kind of manpower/hours into a rape investigation? For the murder cases in S1 and S2, it made sense.

by Anonymousreply 250January 31, 2018 2:58 PM

Season two of broad church was ridiculous. Why would season three be ridiculous?

by Anonymousreply 251January 31, 2018 3:15 PM

On Broadchurch, my favorite was the fat old lady in the trailer.

by Anonymousreply 252January 31, 2018 6:44 PM

R247, yes the very first episode of Rosemary and Thyme was excellent. I watched all 3 seasons and I finally broke down and ordered the box set. Before that after it ran on my PBS channel I would watch it on youtube. It may still be there. It's very relaxing and there are some really good episodes throughout the 3 years.

I thought I would love Murder in Suburbia and while it was entertaining I could never really get into it.

I'm ready for my local PBS-UK channel to start re-running Hetty Wainthrope again. Hyacinth as a retiree starting a detective agency of one is a great show. It's been a long time since it was on.

Watching Waking the Dead as I type.

by Anonymousreply 253January 31, 2018 7:09 PM

Did you know that R&T was cancelled because of the British weather? There were not enough filmable days in the years for a program that by nature (so to speak) had to have a lot of outdoor scenes. The filmed on episode a year on the Continent, but it was just too expensive and impractical to continue the series.

Hetty Wainthrope is on Britbox so it is probably off of PBS.

by Anonymousreply 254January 31, 2018 7:25 PM

I got several seasons of Hetty W. on Netflix DVDs, but not all of them are available.

by Anonymousreply 255January 31, 2018 7:40 PM

R254, no I didn't know that. It's not like they had a typical American season. There were only 6 episodes a season/series. I seem to recall some seasons had more than one overseas show. Thinking about it maybe not - there was the French one at that fabulous villa on the Riviera which is my favorite. There was an Italian one where they are supposed to be fixing a wacky friend's new restaurant (that has a gay lover subplot), and then the Spanish one with the tennis tournament. Do I know my old lady gardeners or what?

Thanks, R255.

by Anonymousreply 256January 31, 2018 7:51 PM

God I enjoyed R&T - a perfect hour of television on a Friday or Saturday evening. Good actors, interesting characters and plots that never really strained credulity.

by Anonymousreply 257January 31, 2018 9:42 PM

And the British never caught on that when those two landscape gardeners showed up there was always a murder? Maybe the whole British Isle was in the know.

by Anonymousreply 258February 1, 2018 12:15 AM

I found Hetty's assistant Jeffrey totes adorbs!

by Anonymousreply 259February 1, 2018 12:25 AM

Jeffrey, of course, went on to Lord of the Rings.

by Anonymousreply 260February 1, 2018 5:18 AM

"Jeffrey" apparently lives in LA now and in addition to acting is quite a surfer.

by Anonymousreply 261February 1, 2018 11:11 AM

Not true r254. It was cancelled after a general overhaul at the tv station. According to Wikipedia “Two stories were already ready for shooting in Portugal when changes in production personnel caused delays. By the time that shooting was rescheduled, some actors were otherwise committed, and the ITV Network Centre was left with no option but to cancel filming for a fourth series.”

by Anonymousreply 262February 1, 2018 11:17 AM

R262, Really? You know that Wikipedia is now carefully edited to remove anything that the subject does not want made public. This is the same reason IMDB forums were removed. Sorry, but I have the information from someone who worked on the production. She had no reason to lie as to why she lost her job. To say the show was cancelled due to lousy British weather is embarrassing to both ITV and England. Filming in Portugal was supposed to be a solution, but the cost of filming two episodes overseas was prohibitive.

by Anonymousreply 263February 1, 2018 11:50 AM

The blonde on Rosemary & Thyme washad an adultress affair with that British playwright. I'm too lazy to look up his name. And hers too.

by Anonymousreply 264February 1, 2018 11:24 PM

Felicity Kendall - known for her role in Good Neighbours (USA: Good Life).

by Anonymousreply 265February 1, 2018 11:42 PM

Psychoville was a wonderful comedy mystery series.

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by Anonymousreply 266February 2, 2018 3:01 AM

I watched the final episodes of "A Place to Call Home" on my PBS station... a lot of fun with George's crazy wife, a somewhat happy ending for all and a schemer planning to destroy the Blighs... a good soapy drama.

by Anonymousreply 267February 2, 2018 9:25 AM

R237 Yeah, I really enjoyed that too. I think he quit the show because of the commute. He was always handsome, but in some episodes he just looks so worn. I know filming a weekly series is grueling.

by Anonymousreply 268February 2, 2018 5:24 PM

R208 I will give Foyles War a chance. I am ready for something more mature.

I'm so desperate that I'm watching "A Caribbean Mystery" with Helen Hayes form the early 80's. Hayes is great... I mean she's Helen Hayes, but the script and other actors are not top-notch.

by Anonymousreply 269February 2, 2018 5:25 PM

Definitely Foyles War. Michael Kitchen is a hot daddy. And one episode has a gay storyline. And the guy who plays Michael Kitchen's son is an actor/singer in London.

by Anonymousreply 270February 2, 2018 10:35 PM

[quote] I know filming a weekly series is grueling.

They never made more than six or seven episodes per season. It's nothing like US television.

by Anonymousreply 271February 2, 2018 11:19 PM

The latest Midsomer Murder seasons have like four episodes max! I don't buy the too expensive or too rainy excuse in regards to R&T if they really wanted to continue the show.

by Anonymousreply 272February 5, 2018 1:33 PM

I’ve seen s couple of episodes of ‘Case Histories’ and thought it was pretty good. Jason Isaacs is very likeable in it.

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by Anonymousreply 273February 5, 2018 5:34 PM

I like Murdoch Mysteries.

Set in Canada (Toronto). When series started it was mid to late 1890s. Later they did a show for the turn of the century so they are in the early 1900s now.

Main character is a science oriented detective who is trying new methods of detection.

The fun parts are the appearances of late 19th century & early 20th century famous people, especially inventors. There was one episode showing competition between a Canadian who was working on an electric car vs the gas powered engine.

Low key, low violence. The unique time period when science was becoming so much more important adds a unique influence.

The setting is not dark and gloomy.

by Anonymousreply 274February 5, 2018 6:38 PM

Very weird to me, but I have trouble taking Canadian TV shows seriously. On the other hand, the Canadian Film Board used to make the best animated films in the world for many years back in the old days when movies still had animated films as an appetizer (yes I"m old--not sure when they stopped that).

by Anonymousreply 275February 6, 2018 11:24 PM

Another corny Canadian period piece murder mystery. As a Canadian, I have no time for any of that blue rinse crowd garbage.

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by Anonymousreply 276February 6, 2018 11:35 PM

Felicity Kendal left her husband for Tom Stoppard who had left his 2d wife for Kendal. They were together maybe 10 years after which Kendal returned to her ex-husband - I think until he died.

Kendal has had an interesting life. She grew up in India working in her family's traveling Shakespearean company. Its story is told in the Ivory-Merchant-Prawer Jhabvala early film Shakespeare Walla. Kendal played the part of her older sister who had fallen in love with an Indian movie idol who played himself in the movie. Though her father had forbidden their marriage, they went ahead and married. The sister was much more beautiful than Felicity and acted in mostly Indian films when she worked. She died fairly young - her 40s - of cancer. She left India at maybe 18 to return to the UK and started a career there.

by Anonymousreply 277February 7, 2018 2:36 AM

r276, I like The Frankie Drake Mysteries. It's kind of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Lite. And the show has some nice male eye candy as guest stars (though no nudity at all).

by Anonymousreply 278February 7, 2018 12:07 PM

I love foreign TV shows, especially British and Scandinavian, but I can never get into Canadian productions. They just seem so cheap and the acting not up to par. Maybe it's because most of the talent left for the States, I don't know...

The only exception is Sensitive Skin with Kim Cattrall, it was excellent.

by Anonymousreply 279February 7, 2018 2:18 PM

r280, try Slings and Arrows. The actor who played Brian in the original "Tales of the City" plays the artistic director of a Shakespeare Theatre. Hilarity ensues.

by Anonymousreply 280February 8, 2018 11:21 AM

Did anyone mention the Dr. Blake series? The Brits really do great with any of those period series. The best! British movies and series are very good. Craig McLachlan is hot.

by Anonymousreply 281February 8, 2018 12:26 PM

Doctor Blake is Australian, not British.

And it's a bore

by Anonymousreply 282February 8, 2018 12:40 PM

R281, I've posted several times about the Dr. Blake Mysteries several times, agree that the show is very good, its first two seasons were excellent. Like any program, it's slipped a bit in seasons 3 and 4. Lucien's love for and relationship with Jean being one cause (relationships often do that) and now the program has lost Maddie and Matthew, so the audience has to become invested in new characters.

Scroll up in the thread, Craig McLachlan (very straight, very sexy) has joined the ranks of men who are accused of inappropriate sexual behavior. Apparently he got very feely when performing the role of Dr. Frank N Furter in the stage musical the Rocky Horror Show. Some female cast members did NOT appreciate the groping. See post R95.

by Anonymousreply 283February 8, 2018 12:43 PM

Slings and Arrows is very funny!

by Anonymousreply 284February 8, 2018 2:07 PM

"Midsomer Murders" is a favorite for skewering the British with all their own eccentricities. Life took me to the UK for a year in the late '80's, so I had to co-exist with that very different culture in ways a tourist would not. One year is not nearly enough to understand what the hell goes on there.

I find Jane Wymark distracting. She adroitly portrays Joyce Barnaby, never over-playing her hand with her cooking failures which send her husband running. Wymark is a dead ringer for Mary Tyler Moore, IF you have ever seen MTM without her trademarked MTM make-up and hair. Any make up artist who worked on MTM's show could apply MTM's face to Wymark and you'd have a hard time knowing it wasn't Mary. Add a brunette wig and you're done. Wymark has had the luxury of continuous employment in a hit show, but in return, she rarely has much to do. At least it doesn't take much work. Just show up. No gut-wrenching drama. Not even a lot of lines. She can learn them in the morning and forget them by dinner time. I suppose she has used it to have a nice life while taking on more interesting projects when Midsomer is on break.

by Anonymousreply 285February 8, 2018 2:38 PM

I realize Dr. Blake series is Australian, but they show it on BBC channels near me.

by Anonymousreply 286February 8, 2018 3:27 PM

Just an FYI, avoid What Remains on Britbox. It is a waste of four hours. The ending really anger-making.

by Anonymousreply 287February 9, 2018 10:54 PM

Acorn TV (available through Amazon) has some great mystery/thriller series. Not all of them are British but definitely worth watching

Rebecka Martinsson - Swedish

Malice Aforethought

L'Accident - French

Deep Water - Australian

Suspects

Code of a Killer

Above Suspicion

The Disappearance - France (similar to Broadchurch)

Chasing Shadows

by Anonymousreply 288February 14, 2018 5:35 PM

Chasing Shadows had Alex Kingston and the guy from ‘League of Gentlemen’, right? I guess there will never be a season two.

Speaking of Kingston, she did a show called ‘Hope Springs’ about 10 years ago. It involved 4 female convicts on the run and hiding in a small town in Scotland. It only ran 1 season but was fun.

by Anonymousreply 289February 14, 2018 7:54 PM

Rebecka Martinson is good

The Disappearance is Disparue? If so, it's ok but nothing spectacular. Typical French mystery miniseries. There are dozens of them that look interchangeable.

by Anonymousreply 290February 14, 2018 7:57 PM

[quote] Regarding New Zealand's The Brokenwood Mysteries. The fourth season, which aired last year, is pretty great. One of the episodes has a gay twist

I am currently watching it. I forgot the gay local pharmachist has been elected as Mayor. But yes, it makes sense as I think all other candidates were murdered or ended up in prison during the election episode.

by Anonymousreply 291February 15, 2018 10:26 PM

r273, I'm also a big fan of the Jackson Brodie/Case Histories and star Jason Isaacs..

Bummer that they only filmed Kate Atkinson's first 2 books. The books just get better...I think there are 5 or 6 now? I wish Kate Atkinson would write a new one.

by Anonymousreply 292February 15, 2018 10:32 PM

I liked Black spot (Zone blanche in french).

It's different from the usual french tv show and there's a gay character and a gay love story.

by Anonymousreply 293February 16, 2018 6:02 PM

Just watched the first episode of the rather charming, and new, BBC crime show called Shakespeare & Hathaway Private Investigators.

It's kind of Rosemary & Thyme and Agatha Raisin kind of twee (or fluff?) crime mystery entertainment taking place in Stratford-upon-Avon.

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by Anonymousreply 294February 26, 2018 5:27 PM

r294, thanks for recommending "Shakespeare & Hathaway." I'm enjoying it. I'm sure some people will have trouble with the nelly gay secretary, but I find him funny. He's smarter than Shakespeare & Hathaway.

by Anonymousreply 295February 28, 2018 1:29 PM

I miss Whitechapel a lot. I'm convinced Kent was gay and had a crush on his boss.

by Anonymousreply 296February 28, 2018 3:15 PM

Whitechapel was interesting the first season when it was about a Jack the Ripper copycat. But the rest of the seasons, they were obviously struggling to think up historic crimes for the Whitechapel area. To me it was like Broadchurch in that it always seemed that it had been intended as a one-off show and it was so popular that they had to extend it past its logical conclusion.

by Anonymousreply 297February 28, 2018 3:19 PM

Grantchester will return for a 4th season. The last one for James Norton. A new vicar is coming in.

Judging by the wording, I guess North will do the first episodes and then leave with the new vicar taking over.

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by Anonymousreply 298April 12, 2018 10:07 PM

I enjoyed Grantchester when it premiered, but grew tired of it after two series. I've never felt that Sidney had any feeling for his faith, that the religious aspect of his life was shoehorned into the storylines. I decided to read the books to see if the author handled religion differently or 'better'. Nope, again I just didn't think this vicar/ detective/conflicted as a vicar worked.

In a way, I wish the stories were a detective who had a been a vicar.

by Anonymousreply 299April 14, 2018 10:45 AM

r299, it's the same with Father Brown. In the first two or three series, he actually made an attempt at church business. But now, he's a detective and there are rarely any sermons, weddings or baptisms. In the later series, you don't even see him hearing confession like he did earlier. The only funerals he conducts are those that are specific to the plot. The whole idea that he is a priest has been abandoned. He's a detective that runs around in a long black vicar's coat.

by Anonymousreply 300April 14, 2018 12:57 PM

There's a new one on Sunday, Unforgotten.

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by Anonymousreply 301April 14, 2018 1:08 PM

Netflix has the latest season of "Father Brown" now. Anyone know when they're going to get new "Midsomer" episodes?

by Anonymousreply 302April 14, 2018 6:32 PM

[quote]Anyone know when they're going to get new "Midsomer" episodes?

I wish they would hurry up. By this time last year, they had already broadcast four new episodes.

by Anonymousreply 303April 14, 2018 7:27 PM

Any word on the Doc Martin front?

by Anonymousreply 304April 14, 2018 9:29 PM

[quote]Any word on the Doc Martin front?

2018 is a break year. There will be new episodes in 2019 which will be the show's last season for new episodes.

by Anonymousreply 305April 14, 2018 10:27 PM

There was a new Midsomer (with some gay content revealed at the end) on ITV last night. Another new episode will be aired next Sunday

by Anonymousreply 306May 14, 2018 10:29 PM

r7, I agree! But watch Shaun Evans and Tom Hardy in the 4-part "The Take." Brilliant!

by Anonymousreply 307May 14, 2018 10:56 PM

"Retribution" (or, "One of Us", as it aired in the UK in 2016) is only 4 episodes long, but really, really good

by Anonymousreply 308May 14, 2018 10:57 PM

Meant r6!

by Anonymousreply 309May 14, 2018 10:57 PM

Someone else mentioned in another thread about "Killing Eve." I actually like it. I think Jodie Cromer is great.

by Anonymousreply 310May 14, 2018 11:29 PM

[quote]There was a new Midsomer (with some gay content revealed at the end) on ITV last night. Another new episode will be aired next Sunday

How long until they start showing up on Netflix? Any cast changes from the previous season?

by Anonymousreply 311May 15, 2018 1:09 AM

[quote] How long until they start showing up on Netflix? Any cast changes from the previous season?

The new season, Season 20, is already playing on Britbox, yet it hasn't played in the UK yet. I guess they think they can make more money with American audiences and sod the Brits.

by Anonymousreply 312May 15, 2018 1:51 AM

R311 Britain is behind the schedule. They are premiering now the last 2 episode of Season 19 already shown in some other countries in 2017 along with the other 4 episode of that season.

Season 20 will have a new pathologist. They got rid of the Indian girl (who doesn't appear also in last episode of season 19)

by Anonymousreply 313May 15, 2018 6:20 AM

Season 7 of Father Brown has been commissioned by BBC

"Mrs McCarthy (Sorcha Cusack), Inspector Mallory (Jack Deam) and Bunty Windermere (Emer Kenny) are all on hand, to help Father Brown solve a whole new set of mysteries.

When Lady Felicia (Nancy Carroll) returns from Northern Rhodesia in need of help, Father Brown is forced to conclude that none other than Hercule Flambeau (John Light) may be her greatest ally. Meanwhile a familiar face returns to Kembleford when a notorious police killer is spotted near the village, putting Sergeant Goodfellow (John Burton) in grave danger."

by Anonymousreply 314June 18, 2018 10:53 AM

Tom Brittney is the new vicar in Grantchester

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by Anonymousreply 315June 29, 2018 11:45 PM

I just watched the British and Swedish show Fallet and it’s really good. Not as good as Midsomer Murders.

by Anonymousreply 316June 30, 2018 12:00 AM

"Tom Brittney is the new vicar in Grantchester"

It's Britney, bitch!

by Anonymousreply 317June 30, 2018 12:00 AM

Fallet was really fun! Worth watching if you want something lighthearted but with a loose mystery story.

by Anonymousreply 318June 30, 2018 12:23 AM

I never saw Inspector Morse when it aired and have read about how the British revered the books, the show and the star. So I watched a few episodes and .....it’s ok. It’s no Foyle’s War, that’s for sure. Foyle was the Gary Cooper of detectives. He didn’t blather on and on, have crazy quirks, he didn’t sit around listening to crappy jazz or blast opera or classical music, he didn’t show off, drive fancy cars, have temper tantrums, talk to dead people, punch walls, be a drama queen, pine for love, cook gourmet meals, drink excessively, investigate supernatural crimes or copycat historical murders. He does say “yep”a lot.

by Anonymousreply 319June 30, 2018 3:02 AM

r319, bravo! You have all the types down pat. But maybe a bit less tv and a bit more social interaction with your peers?

by Anonymousreply 320June 30, 2018 3:07 AM

I miss Whitechapel a lot. I'm convinced Kent was gay and had a crush on his boss.

Yeah, I thought the same thing about Kent.

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by Anonymousreply 321June 30, 2018 3:13 AM

I'm upset that they just left you hanging with Whitechapel.

By happenstance, I just ran across the show Who Do You Think You Are featurinig Rupert Penry Jones. He looks fantastic in this show and they explore his background finding that he has Indian blood (India Indian).

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by Anonymousreply 322June 30, 2018 3:19 AM

I’m married, have a kid, live in NYC and the Hamptons and have plenty of friends, R320, especially in summer and very especially during heat waves when my pool isn’t malfunctioning. After the pool guy comes early tomorrow morning and the vet does a house call, all social systems are a go.

by Anonymousreply 323June 30, 2018 3:29 AM

r321 He looks like the offspring of Timothée and Elijah Wood.

by Anonymousreply 324June 30, 2018 4:15 AM

Do rich peoplewith posh educations become police officers?

by Anonymousreply 325June 30, 2018 4:51 AM

Yes. Titled members of the aristocracy and Oxbridge grads are well known to be drawn to a low paying, stressful job where you come across the worst of humanity.

In America, billionaire bachelors and high ranking politicians' daughters become police officers. And now, the president and Vice President have teamed up to solve crime.

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by Anonymousreply 326June 30, 2018 5:10 AM

One thing that's funny in British detective shows is that the detectives work round the clock every day,in America, when a cip's shift ends, that's it. Cops sign up for overtime to make more $ and pad their pensions, but when that shift or double shift ends, you're not getting that cop back til it's shift starting time.

by Anonymousreply 327June 30, 2018 5:21 AM

[quote] Do rich peoplewith posh educations become police officers?

Donnie Graham did.

by Anonymousreply 328June 30, 2018 8:16 AM

R327 Not in Death in Paradise. At 4PM they have already finished the shift and they are at the bar.

by Anonymousreply 329June 30, 2018 8:42 AM

I'm rewatching Foyle's War. I didn't realise how many episodes I'd missed. That show was a perfectly cast ensemble.

Endeavour has started again. He got his promotion, the area police forces are all consolidating. The show seems to be winding down, I dread that they'll kill off Thursday. This show is my favorite although I never liked "Morse" and only watched a couple episodes.

by Anonymousreply 330June 30, 2018 11:14 AM

Wherefore, r320? One's peers are often uninterested in....one.

by Anonymousreply 331June 30, 2018 12:54 PM

r330, Julian Ovenden:

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by Anonymousreply 332June 30, 2018 12:57 PM

r301, Nicola Walker ("Ruth" of MI-5) is too fugly to watch an entire show built around her. If she's going to eschew make-up, can't she at least wash her damn HAIR?!

by Anonymousreply 333June 30, 2018 1:07 PM

My PBS station has just aired the first episode of series 4 for "Shetland". God I love that show.

by Anonymousreply 334June 30, 2018 1:52 PM

I like frumpy Vera.

by Anonymousreply 335June 30, 2018 2:09 PM

Very nice r332, I had no idea he could sing. I also liked him on Downton, his character seemed the best match for Lady Mary. I assume the actor got a better offer and that's why he disappeared without a trace.

R333, shame! "Ruth" (because that's how I think of her too) is always interesting to watch. I just saw an old episode of Jonathan Creek in which she had a small part and she was very funny. What was the police show that was two women detectives with a woman boss? Ruth played a victim of some horrible abuse one season and it was so gripping that I stayed up all night to watch the entire season.

by Anonymousreply 336June 30, 2018 2:53 PM

[quote]Nicola Walker ("Ruth" of MI-5) is too fugly to watch an entire show built around her. If she's going to eschew make-up, can't she at least wash her damn HAIR?!

They've tried to sex her up in The Split by having her go blonde and wear expensive clothes.

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by Anonymousreply 337June 30, 2018 2:57 PM

Is SPLIT on Sundance or BBC America? I can't keep up. I caught the first episode of SPLIT and enjoyed it, but keep missing new episodes (I think there are only 4) and it's not available on my On Demand channels.

by Anonymousreply 338July 2, 2018 8:47 PM

In the category of "others", Netflix offers a Russian series called "Sniffer" about a grumpy detective with a freakishly sensitive sense of smell he uses as a superpower to fight crime, political corruption, and official misconduct.

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by Anonymousreply 339July 2, 2018 9:00 PM

The new pathologist on Midsommer Murders is Annette Badland. You might recognize her from Doctor Who.

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by Anonymousreply 340July 2, 2018 9:26 PM

[quote]Is SPLIT on Sundance or BBC America? I can't keep up. I caught the first episode of SPLIT and enjoyed it, but keep missing new episodes (I think there are only 4) and it's not available on my On Demand channels.

There are 6 episodes of The Split in 2018. It's been on Sundance.

by Anonymousreply 341July 2, 2018 11:39 PM

I'm about to reread this thread because I need a new show. Would appreciate any recommendations based on the following:

Recently sped through all three series of Grantchester. Absolutely loved it, especially series two with its examination of the repercussions of crime and moral weakness. The friendship between Geordie and Sidney is wonderfully portrayed, one of the most believable I've ever seen on TV. Very sad to hear Norton is leaving. The writers must be pissed after firmly restoring the status quo at the end of series three.

Watched the first four episodes of Midsomer Murders and that was enough of that. Bit cheesy IMHO and some really bad directing.

Saw an episode of Father Brown (the newer one) and liked it well enough but it didn't grab me. Not sure why, the only thing I can really say against it is that like a lot of these shows it suffers from only being an hour. I'll give it another try.

Maybe I'll finally finish Murder Most Horrid next.

by Anonymousreply 342August 9, 2018 11:52 AM

Netflix just released a new season of "Death in Paradise."

by Anonymousreply 343August 9, 2018 5:37 PM

I watched an episode of "Death In Paradise" (with the annoying Kris Marshall) out of curiosity and couldn't believe how cheesy and bad it was. It was like an inferior version of "Murder, She Wrote" in a tropical setting. I can't believe BBC One is airing something like that in 2018 - is this a show for the UK granny crowd?

by Anonymousreply 344August 9, 2018 7:18 PM

Despite being in the mood for something cozy, I started watching Happy Valley and couldn't stop. Very compelling and great acting. Felt like a Coen film. Glad to find that Grantchester wasn't a fluke and James Norton really is terrific, though of course the main attraction is Sarah Lancashire as the central character. Will definitely seek out more from her, and from series creator Sally Wainwright. I understand that Norton is in the second series. just hoping that doesn't feel forced.

Baroness Von Sketch did a cute little riff on Happy Valley:

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by Anonymousreply 345August 11, 2018 10:13 AM

Happy Valley S2 is good though not nearly as great as the first season.

Sally Wainwright also did Last Tango in Halifax with Sarah Lancashire (3 seasons, I think?). Very different genre from HV but I really enjoyed it.

by Anonymousreply 346August 11, 2018 10:21 AM

I've been re-watching Whitechapel. Loved the episode in which Shaun Evans ("Endeavour Morse" in [italic]Endeavour[/italic]) plays a suspect. Wish he and Rupert Penis-Jones could have gotten together to explore each other's nakedtude. DI Chandler (Rupert P-J) didn't really seem comfortable around women, did he?

Sam Stockman (below) portrays the adorable Emerson Kent, whom I would really like Chandler to have ended up with.

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by Anonymousreply 347August 11, 2018 10:40 AM

The first detective they had from seasons 1-3, Ben Miller, was much better R344. He wasn't goofy like Kris Marshall. Now there is an Irish detective who is by far the worst so far.

by Anonymousreply 348August 11, 2018 11:27 AM

Fuck, Midsomer Murders is back? According to IMDB there's a season 20 I have not yet seen.

by Anonymousreply 349August 11, 2018 12:14 PM

I wish I liked Midsomer Murders. I've seen a few episodes and it just seemed very lightweight. I like the lead actor but that's about it.

I really got to like Lewis and Father Brown although I also thought them tepid at first. The both have more emotional depth? The only character who is out of place in Father Brown is the police detective, his character is just one note.

Death in Paradise is too formulaic what with the "let's gather all the suspects together and confront the killer" ending.

The Tunnel just finished its third and last season. This one had a much less complicated plot, thank god.

by Anonymousreply 350August 11, 2018 12:17 PM

[quote]I'm about to reread this thread because I need a new show. Would appreciate any recommendations based on the following:

Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren

Life on Mars (the UK version with John Simm)

State of Play (the UK version with Bill Nighy)

Foyle's War

And if you're in for just a breezy bit of fun:

Upstart Crow (a comedy about Shakespeare)

Shakespeare & Hathaway (the gay assistant is the best character)

The Cafe (which first introduced me to Phoebe Waller-Bridge in a supporting role)

Uncle (Con Oneill's appearances as the drag queen make this show!)

by Anonymousreply 351August 11, 2018 12:17 PM

[quote]Fuck, Midsomer Murders is back? According to IMDB there's a season 20 I have not yet seen.

Unfortunately, it's a very forgettable season. It's so lackluster. They bring in Annette Badland who really spices up the show, but she can only do so much because she's the new coroner. The writing is quite bad this season and one or two of the plots are recycled from other seasons. I think they show the sidekick detective in the shower in one episode, but they either need to bump up the writing or get the sidekick detective naked.

For some reason, Acorn decided not to broadcast it in the UK immediately. The new episodes have been showing in the US on Acorn and Britbox subscription channels.

by Anonymousreply 352August 11, 2018 12:23 PM

My mother loves Shakespeare and Hathaway.

by Anonymousreply 353August 12, 2018 1:14 AM

I enjoyed the last season R352. I thought Badland is a great addition. I thought the plots and writing were the best in several seasons..I still watched all the shows in the previous few season but I found the episodes too long and boring. Not so this season.

by Anonymousreply 354August 12, 2018 3:03 AM

Sorry, I like Midsomer Murder's 20th season so far. Love the new coroner (first episode she's suggesting the dog to get neutered and the dog immediately hides underneath the table) and Winter doing cosplay for the show's local comic con convention. It also features a couple of gay characters (one, a rugby player, dealing with the trauma of being bullied for coming out).

by Anonymousreply 355August 12, 2018 8:11 AM

The original point of Midsomer Murders was to show the kooky people who inhabit the British countryside. Nutty squires, delusional ladies of the manor who were poor and married rich, garden party ladies who wanted to one-up their neighbors and groundskeepers with a grudge who you find out were the bastard children and had a claim to the dead earl's money. The fun part of the show was seeing the staid John Nettles dealing with all these kooks. Several years ago, that aspect was lost and it just became a standard issue murder/police procedure show.

For those of you in the US, it's comparable to the original Twin Peaks. People watched the show to see all the absurdist people. Take that element away and you have a big yawnfest.

by Anonymousreply 356August 12, 2018 12:22 PM

I agree with your assessment R356. The addition of random Indian shopkeepers here and there just to meet some racial quota also brought it down.

by Anonymousreply 357August 12, 2018 12:36 PM

I think I will try Midsomer Murders. I have never seen a single episode, so I shall start with season 1.

by Anonymousreply 358August 12, 2018 12:48 PM

[quote] The addition of random Indian shopkeepers here and there just to meet some racial quota also brought it down.

Yeah, that's the real problem. Seeing some random non-white person for 30 seconds.

by Anonymousreply 359August 12, 2018 1:29 PM

Good luck, R358. It's a quirky show that concentrates on the personalities of the characters and frequently has some fun with inside jokes. In one episode well into the run, the detectives are investigating at a town fair. The local high school orchestra is there playing for the townspeople. They play the 'Midsomer Murders' theme. Barnaby's wife's cooking. Don't try to make sense of his daughter's story line. The writers never did.

Jason Hughes showers a few times. That's quite nice.

by Anonymousreply 360August 12, 2018 1:44 PM

Yeah, r360, I never understood the daughter's storyline. I think the original premise was to show how gruff Barnaby was and that his work inconvenienced his personal life. But the writing for the daughter was just stupid and all over the place. At one point, she wants to be an actress (so move your ass to London and go to drama school) then I think another point she was something else like a real estate agent. Nothing about the character ever made sense. And that also extended to the wife (and still does with the new Barnaby and wife). The wife always took an interest in some new project and it just so happened that Barnaby had a case that involved that. So the wife takes an interest in opera and suddenly there's a murder in the local music society. The wife joins a local book club and suddenly the leader of the book club is a suspect.

I still believe that the Barnaby Crime Family is doing all the murders in Midsomer and expertly blaming it on various innocent citizens.

by Anonymousreply 361August 12, 2018 1:54 PM

How many Indian shopkeepers are there in English villages R359? And they're not just background players.

by Anonymousreply 362August 12, 2018 2:12 PM

Well, I've seen them in the Lake District, for instance, so it's not *that* uncommon. No, England is not as white as it was in the 1930s, to much chagrin of some of you.

by Anonymousreply 363August 12, 2018 2:16 PM

Joyce is consistent in that she is a terrible cook. The writers have good fun with Barnaby and his daughter dealing with that unpleasant constant.

Another thing I like about Midsomer Murders is that in every episode a LOT of people get slaughtered. There is never just one murder to solve. The killer always kills again and again to cover up the crime.

Of course, Barnaby's daughter suffered the worst fate of all. She got replaced by a dog.

by Anonymousreply 364August 12, 2018 2:18 PM

[quote]Another thing I like about Midsomer Murders is that in every episode a LOT of people get slaughtered. There is never just one murder to solve. The killer always kills again and again to cover up the crime.

The show is 90 minutes. They had to have a lot of red herrings.

[quote]Of course, Barnaby's daughter suffered the worst fate of all. She got replaced by a dog.

And the dog was more interesting than the daughter. But now the new Barnabys have a daughter. (The showrunner couldn't possibly change it up and give the new Barnabys a son, now could they?)

by Anonymousreply 365August 12, 2018 2:22 PM

Was Joyce Barnaby really a bad cook? I remember her cooking meals that even if prepared by a great chef would be terrible?

Like Murder She Wrote the premise of the show is funny. How does either Barnaby keep his job? Most if not all murders he investigates there is always at least one more before he solves the first murder. You would think those little villages would be begging to have someone else investigate.

Just like how in the right mind would invite Jessica Fletcher for a visit?

by Anonymousreply 366August 12, 2018 6:44 PM

[quote]Was Joyce Barnaby really a bad cook? I remember her cooking meals that even if prepared by a great chef would be terrible?

That was always the bit of comedy that sanded the edges off the detective characterization.

The thing about the new Barnabys is that they are ALWAYS inviting people over for dinner. So the new, hotter Mrs. Barnaby must be an excellent cook.

And in Season 20, I think Annette Badland is great. But what audiences lose is Mrs. Barnaby always trying to set the sidekick up with the coroner. First it was the blonde woman, then the Indian woman. I guess they just scrapped that idea because too many actresses were cycling through the role and it looked like the sidekick was desperate to get laid by anyone who came into that position. So just stick a cranky old woman in the role, let the jokes roll, and forget about the sidekick's sex life.

by Anonymousreply 367August 12, 2018 6:57 PM

Thanks to this thread I just bingewatched the 20th season of Midsomer Murders and overall I like it very much. I don't mind the diversity casting at all, but there is some very distinct departure from previous seasons. Might be considered spoilers from here on. The biggest one for me is that Barnaby is not longer acting like a high almighty, superior know-it-all. Instead he comes off like a bit of a bumbling fool being kind of emasculated by the new cornoner who I love though (also I didn't notice it before that his wife is making fun of him and his insecurities he's showing this season). The show went also a bit modern imho by putting way more focus on modern life than the serene life on the countryside.

by Anonymousreply 368August 12, 2018 9:36 PM

I immediately thought of the British miniseries “Safe” when reading about the Mollie Tibbetts disappearance. Everyone looks suspicious.

by Anonymousreply 369August 12, 2018 9:51 PM

The premise of "Safe" had a plot hole you could drive 10 Mack trucks through.

And what happened to Marc Warren? He looks like a junkie or he has some wasting disease. He went from hot to not!

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by Anonymousreply 370August 12, 2018 10:12 PM

Love Marc Warren and his (gay) character in”Safe”. Few people look better with a shaved head, IMO, and certainly not him!

Much better with his blond locks.

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by Anonymousreply 371August 12, 2018 10:17 PM

^ And speaking of Marc Warren, I loved Mad Dogs which ran for 4 seasons. It’s a British crime drama and not a murder mystery but I thought it was immensely entertaining. Amazon did a US version a few years ago but it only lasted 1 season.

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by Anonymousreply 372August 12, 2018 10:21 PM

[quote] Most if not all murders he investigates there is always at least one more before he solves the first murder.

at least 2...maybe 3!

by Anonymousreply 373August 12, 2018 10:22 PM

Marc also played gay in "State of Play" and he was very good as the flamboyant, over the top, trying to hide it gay.

And he could be quite stunning when he made the effort.

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by Anonymousreply 374August 12, 2018 10:35 PM

Marc in “No Night is Too Long”.

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by Anonymousreply 375August 12, 2018 10:41 PM

[quote] Most if not all murders he investigates there is always at least one more before he solves the first murder.

[quote] at least 2...maybe 3!

Which makes sense most of the time since the later victims caught the murderer in the act or have proof of the murder and blackmail the murderer since everybody knows everybody in Midsomer so blackmail seems to be a common thing like brunch.

by Anonymousreply 376August 13, 2018 1:27 AM

I enjoyed the new version of Ordeal by Innocence on Amazon, but these glossy, self-important Christie adaptations are the new camp. So very determined to be serious and artsy. I didn't mind the plot changes, though the tacked-on Cold War angle didn't work for me and Morven Christie is too young for that character.

I always wonder, though, why they always change Christie's plots. People who haven't read the books don't know the difference, and people who have read the books are watching because they're fans; they probably want to see Christie's mystery, not some knock-off.

Between that and Happy Valley I needed something lighter, so I started Death in Paradise. The first episode was satisfying and fun in that cozy way. Though I was disappointed that...well without getting too spoilery, it won't be the exact same cast in the next episode, I assume.

by Anonymousreply 377August 19, 2018 5:55 PM

R377, what's the point of doing an adaptation if you aren't going to change anything? If you want something exactly like the book....just read the book

by Anonymousreply 378August 19, 2018 8:25 PM

[quote] what's the point of doing an adaptation if you aren't going to change anything?

Oh, brother.

There have been lots of adaptations of Shakespeare without changing the plots or motivations.

There have been lots of adaptations of Jane Austen without changing the plots or motivations.

There have been many, many film adaptations of many works that do not change the plots and adaptations.

The screenwriter of the new BBC Christies does not like Agatha Christie. Watch the extra on the DVD of "Witness for the Prosecution". She sneers when asked if she read Christie when young and responds with "We never had anything like THAT in OUR house." She then proceeds to tell the interviewer what SHE thought Christie REALLY was about.

Choosing someone who does not like the author and respect the author's work to do the screenplay is insulting.

by Anonymousreply 379August 19, 2018 9:03 PM

[quote] There have been many, many film adaptations of many works that do not change the plots and adaptations.

That should read "...plots and motivations."

by Anonymousreply 380August 19, 2018 9:05 PM

There are two different issues here. Agatha Christie would rewrite her stories for the stage, and give them a new ending so those that had read the books would be surprised. Changing characters, victims, and murderers around is nothing new.

What does seem to be new are the adapters who have contempt for the material and are rather vocal about it. Heidi Thomas has done the same with Jennifer Worth's original material.

by Anonymousreply 381August 19, 2018 9:44 PM

[quote]Though I was disappointed that...well without getting too spoilery, it won't be the exact same cast in the next episode, I assume.

I'm on season 6, and there have been a bunch of cast changes -- more than Midsomer, even. What I find surprising about "DiP" is that it seems like all of the tourists/guest stars are British. Wouldn't a Caribbean island have visitors from other European countries, and especially from the US?

by Anonymousreply 382August 20, 2018 2:36 AM

Oh, R382. Don't say that to the Brits.

You'd be wasting your time. They wouldn't believe you.

by Anonymousreply 383August 20, 2018 12:33 PM

[quote]what's the point of doing an adaptation if you aren't going to change anything?

Christie was one of the all-time greats at constructing mystery plots. The same cannot be said for the screenwriters who change her plots.

This version of Ordeal by Innocence changed the killer from the least likely suspect to the most likely. I don't call that a positive change. The odd thing about Sarah Phelps is that she creates these mysteries but doesn't actually seem interested in mystery.

I'm not a purist, sometimes people make changes that I enjoy. The McEwan version of The Body in the Library, for instance, added comic bits that I liked and put a good twist on the ending. And Christie's characterizations rarely went deep, so I welcome the nuances that actors bring, and some of the new ideas the screenwriters bring. There was a smart addition to Five Little Pigs that made perfect sense and only added to the emotionally charged atmosphere of the book. Unlike turning Calgary into a showy neurotic which was just distracting. (In a bad way, not a red herring way.)

Anyway. Couldn't sleep so I stayed up watching more Death in Paradise. It's starting to wear on me. The main character would be very unlikable if he weren't so patently someone who could only exist on a TV show. The paternalistic vibe is getting uncomfortable too.

by Anonymousreply 384August 20, 2018 2:13 PM

"Christie was one of the all-time greats at constructing mystery plots. "

She wrote dozens of books, some of which are great and others which are sloppy. I believe some of them were actually improved by screenwriters.

by Anonymousreply 385August 20, 2018 2:15 PM

Death in Paradise has lightweight leading men because of the ridiculous hook on which it all rests. Nothing makes sense, and then "Eureka! Have everyone on the lanai in one hour."

The ridiculous monologue that follows, explaining all the loose ends and red herrings, cannot be delivered by any genuine character. It's just absurd. He can't be a character, he is just a device to paper over some awfully thin writing.

The secondary characters are spared that and are better developed for it.

by Anonymousreply 386August 20, 2018 2:19 PM

[quote]She wrote dozens of books, some of which are great and others which are sloppy. I believe some of them were actually improved by screenwriters.

Which ones do you think were improved?

by Anonymousreply 387August 20, 2018 2:39 PM

^ Five Little Pigs, Elephants Can Remember, The Big Four

by Anonymousreply 388August 20, 2018 3:29 PM

Five Little Pigs is excellent! I quite agree with you there. I remember disliking the adaptation of Elephants Can Remember but I don't recall why. Was that the one that had Poirot being impatient and unhelpful to Ariadne Oliver? I found that very out of character. But maybe that was a different one. Never read The Big Four so I can't comment on that.

It's true of course that Christie's books weren't all equally good, but the attempts to improve usually fall flat with me. Too often they just heap on more cliches or tack on weird ways to show off the budget.

[quote]The ridiculous monologue that follows, explaining all the loose ends and red herrings, cannot be delivered by any genuine character. It's just absurd. He can't be a character, he is just a device to paper over some awfully thin writing.

Heh. This reminded me (in substance) of that long-ass YouTube examination of Sherlock that exhaustively explains why that show is terrible. But no one would do that for Death in Paradise because no one is taken in.

by Anonymousreply 389August 21, 2018 12:29 PM

What black magic makes me keep watching Shetland? It's fucking boring but I can't stop.

by Anonymousreply 390August 27, 2018 8:02 PM

In one of the earlier episodes of Shetland, there are even 2 gay teenagers. On an island with about 20 residents and they were the only teens there.

by Anonymousreply 391August 27, 2018 8:05 PM

The first two seasons of Shetland are close to your typical lightweight UK crime drama. It gets better in S3 and S4, where the entire season is one case.

by Anonymousreply 392August 27, 2018 8:29 PM

I think I've seen only the first 2 seasons of Shetland. Hopefully the new seasons will also arrive here (I am not British).

In the episode with the gay teens, one had the father not appreciating the likely relationship. IIRC at one point the other one wrote a letter him and he brought it to his house. As he was not at home, he left it to the father expecting him to actually deliver it to the son! I mean, my dear, he took great efforts to push your parents to send you on another island and do you really expect him to actually give him your love letter? You are dumper than the average dump character.

by Anonymousreply 393August 27, 2018 8:38 PM
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by Anonymousreply 394August 27, 2018 9:49 PM

*Dumber

by Anonymousreply 395August 27, 2018 9:51 PM

I finished the first two seasons of Shetland...a season is like three episodes.

Now, thanks to DL, I'm watching Midsomer Murders. I just picked a season at random, 9? It has John Nettles and a dark haired sergeant whom I recognise from Poldark

Still not getting the love.

by Anonymousreply 396August 27, 2018 10:39 PM

[quote] Still not getting the love.

Try a bit harder, dear. It hasn't run for 20 seasons because it was bad.

by Anonymousreply 397August 27, 2018 11:03 PM

[quote] It hasn't run for 20 seasons because it was bad.

The world's stupidest crime show AKA "Death In Paradise" has been on for 8, so what does that say about your average BBC viewer?

by Anonymousreply 398August 27, 2018 11:05 PM

Midsummer Murders is campy. It’s in on the joke. These idyllic little villages having concerts, symposia, bell ringing contests, Christmas caroling, modern pagan festivals, quiz nights, orchid festivals, war reenactments, local beauty contests, wine tastings, pet shows, bake offs, museum openings.....all with quaint shops, quaint homes and lovely landscaping ....and the bizarre murders that occur in them. Death by catapulting wine bottles, death by clothes dryer, death by camera obscura, death by drowning inside a television.

I haven’t watched it in a while and don’t know if they’ve abandoned the kookiness of the villagers and their modus morte. But it’s a testament to John Nettles & company that they kept straight faces.

by Anonymousreply 399August 27, 2018 11:50 PM

OT, I know, but when is that fucking Poldark going to end? I can’t take it anymore. My local PBS stations clutter up a whole fucking night twice a week to run this glorified hair product commercial and overlong Cornish tourism ad. All of the wealthy people look like models, yet Poldark lives in a place that is the 18th century equivalent of the Honeymooners apartment. Please end it, for Christ’s sake.

by Anonymousreply 400August 28, 2018 12:09 AM

“Vexed” is a fun comedy/mystery series, starring the sexy Tony Stephens.

by Anonymousreply 401August 28, 2018 1:09 AM

[quote]I haven’t watched it in a while and don’t know if they’ve abandoned the kookiness of the villagers and their modus morte.

In my opinion, they've lost the kookiness of the show. Now it seems just a straight police investigation drama.

by Anonymousreply 402August 28, 2018 2:26 AM

I absolutely LOVED "Unforgotten." To me, Nicola Walker's character was like an updated version of Inspector Tennyson. PBS aired both series, earlier this year, and a third series is supposedly now in production, though it will probably be a good year before it airs in the US.

And this one is going back a good 20 years, but I'm wondering if anyone else remembers "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman" (based on the PD James book. Helen Baxendale played the main character, and Annette Crosbie (best remembered as the wife in "One Foot in the Grave") played her loyal assistant. I thought it was very well done, and the two lead actresses were perfect in their roles.

by Anonymousreply 403August 28, 2018 2:54 AM

[quote]a third series is supposedly now in production, though it will probably be a good year before it airs in the US.

The third series has already broadcast in the UK. It was good up until the last episode which seemed to just run out of steam and die. They ran out of story before they ran out of time to fill.

The last episode was filled with a lot of talky talk scenes when the killer was identified. At least they avoided the American way of filling time by putting in a musical montage.

by Anonymousreply 404August 28, 2018 2:59 AM

[quote] when is that fucking Poldark going to end?

There was a show about parking nightmares on British television recently. They went to a village where a lot of Poldark scenes are filmed. It is overrun with cars of fans of the show. The tiny lanes cannot take the traffic and the residents are pissed. It won't be ending soon.

by Anonymousreply 405August 28, 2018 3:28 AM

[quote] I absolutely LOVED "Unforgotten." To me, Nicola Walker's character was like an updated version of Inspector Tennyson. PBS aired both series, earlier this year, and a third series is supposedly now in production, though it will probably be a good year before it airs in the US.

It already aired in the UK.

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by Anonymousreply 406August 28, 2018 3:40 AM

[quote] I haven’t watched it in a while and don’t know if they’ve abandoned the kookiness of the villagers and their modus morte.

in one of the latest episodes one was killed by a knife dropped by a drone....

by Anonymousreply 407August 28, 2018 6:29 AM

I remember "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman," it was great. I remember looking for the DVDs in college but didn't end up finding them. My favorite episode was when Helen Baxendale has to go undercover as a maid in some grand hotel. Baxendale is a cute, interesting actress and it's a shame she's mainly known as having played a minor character on "Friends."

by Anonymousreply 408August 28, 2018 8:03 AM

[quote]Baxendale is a cute, interesting actress and it's a shame she's mainly known as having played a minor character on "Friends."

In the UK, she's known for "Cold Feet" which is a really great show.

by Anonymousreply 409August 28, 2018 12:03 PM

Back in the 90s, when I was very sad, I used to cheer myself up by imitating Helen Baxendale in the opening credits of Unsuitable Job.

by Anonymousreply 410August 28, 2018 12:24 PM

r399 So English villages aren't really like that? Well then, I'm cancelling my travel plans!

by Anonymousreply 411August 28, 2018 2:43 PM

It was so long ago, I know I read Unsuitable Job, the book and really liked it. Not sure if I saw a series.

Oh god Poldark. Right now its three hours back to back before the start of the new season. Hair shampoo commercial is right. Ive read most of the books until I lost interest in the now-grown-up children's love lives. Everyone is so pouty. Of course I loved the original series, even George Warleggan had a couple good qualities plus the actor looked like the son? grandson? of a blacksmith so it made all the social snubs more pointed.

My biggest issue is with the direction. Each scene lasts about 60 seconds and they're always popping in to each other's house or running into each other along the cliff's edge. Then one character will casually say that x happened a couple months ago when it was three scenes earlier.

by Anonymousreply 412August 28, 2018 3:09 PM

Still watching Shetland and glad I stuck with it. Really enjoying the third series, which tells a bigger and longer story. And the time spent with the characters is paying off now that the stakes are raised.

And to answer my own question about why the hell I kept watching...I think partly out of interest in the Shetlands, and partly for the relative novelty of mysteries someplace truly isolated, not just quaintly rural/suburban like St. Mary Mead or Midsomer. (I learned from this show that it's a 12 hour boat trip from Aberdeen to the Shetlands, and that Fair Isle has a population of about 70.)

Speaking of, I don't care for Midsomer Murders either, R396. Different strokes.

I watched a few episodes of Vexed on Netflix. It's mostly a comedy but it can't quite settle on a tone, which I found unsatisfying and may be why some of the humor falls flat for me. But there's lots to like too -- the opening scene of the first episode was so great -- and I'll finish watching it eventually. Hell I watched all of the Lost in Space reboot for Toby Stephens.

by Anonymousreply 413August 28, 2018 3:36 PM

Reminds me, I'd like to watch the Brother Cadfael series with Sir Derek again. That was a long time ago. The books are nice, too.

by Anonymousreply 414August 28, 2018 4:07 PM

R414 Brother Jerome was such a pain in the ass also in the novels?

by Anonymousreply 415August 28, 2018 4:14 PM

I don't think anyone here has mentioned the Jackson Brodie series based on Kate Atkinson's books and starring hottie Jason Isaacs. The first season was based on Case Histories which was the excellent first book, but have any more been shown in the US? If so, I must have missed them.

by Anonymousreply 416August 28, 2018 5:25 PM

I just stumbled across a blog dedicated to crime shows, mostly from the UK. Might be of interest if you're looking for something new to watch.

Totally off topic, but the new series of Great British Bake Off is starting!

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by Anonymousreply 417August 28, 2018 5:54 PM

Case Histories is on Amazon Prime. I loved it, too bad it only ran two seasons.

by Anonymousreply 418August 28, 2018 7:13 PM

Each scene lasts about 60 seconds and they're always popping in to each other's house or running into each other along the cliff's edge.

Lol every Brit crime series ever!

by Anonymousreply 419August 28, 2018 7:20 PM

[quote]they're always popping in to each other's house

and singing out "coo-eee" whatever that means.

by Anonymousreply 420August 28, 2018 7:32 PM

[quote] Lol every Brit crime series ever!

They’re talking about Poldark, which isn’t a crime series.

by Anonymousreply 421August 28, 2018 7:39 PM

[quote]The screenwriter of the new BBC Christies does not like Agatha Christie. Watch the extra on the DVD of "Witness for the Prosecution". She sneers when asked if she read Christie when young and responds with "We never had anything like THAT in OUR house." She then proceeds to tell the interviewer what SHE thought Christie REALLY was about.

Cunt!

I loathed her Witness for the Prosecution. So drab. Andrea Riseborough also sucked, Toby Jones was the saving grace.

by Anonymousreply 422August 28, 2018 7:47 PM

R406 link doesn’t work

by Anonymousreply 423August 28, 2018 11:44 PM

I loved Heat of the Sun with Trevor Eve.

That show looked at the class issues in Law and merrily showed that Happy Valley set for what they were.

Too bad it didn't last longer.

by Anonymousreply 424August 29, 2018 1:06 PM

I swear when Aidan turner does outdoor scenes in Poldark they have a fan in front of him, blowing his hair.

by Anonymousreply 425August 29, 2018 10:49 PM

I’m really pissed about Britbox and PBS Passport. Now stuff I used to watch on YouTube, Netflix or Amazon Prime have been taken and put behind a monthly paywall.

by Anonymousreply 426August 29, 2018 10:51 PM

Father Brown is another popular BBC murder mystery. It is silly but fun.

by Anonymousreply 427August 30, 2018 2:02 AM

Season 7 of "Death in Paradise" has a gay black character named Steadman King.

Nyuk nyuk.

by Anonymousreply 428September 1, 2018 7:12 PM

^ Well at least the writers have a sense of humor!

by Anonymousreply 429September 1, 2018 9:28 PM

I just binge watched "WPC 56". They have a gay character in that and it takes place in 1956.

by Anonymousreply 430September 4, 2018 4:30 PM

I'm going through a very stressful period of life right now, and Father Brown is a therapeutic diversion for me. Sharing a tipple with the Father has become a soothing bedtime routine. I never thought I'd want a tea set, but I have fallen in love with Mrs. McCarthy's. It's one of my favorite characters on the show.

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by Anonymousreply 431September 6, 2018 7:10 PM

why Mrs. McCarthy never put her hat away?

by Anonymousreply 432September 6, 2018 7:13 PM

Isn’t Mrs Mcarthy Jeremy irons’ sister in law?

by Anonymousreply 433September 6, 2018 7:35 PM

Yes, r433.

by Anonymousreply 434September 6, 2018 8:15 PM

Lady Felicia does the best "dead body screams" on Father Brown.

by Anonymousreply 435September 6, 2018 8:28 PM

And she should be used of dead bodies by now

by Anonymousreply 436September 6, 2018 8:30 PM

Watching a couple episodes of Blue Murder now, a detective squad in Liverpool. It 's okay. Not cosy/eccentric like Midsomer but less gritty than Scott & Bailey. Maybe similar to DCI Banks, another show I did not find interesting.

by Anonymousreply 437September 6, 2018 11:53 PM

Hit post too soon. Did finish the final season of Foyles War, had missed more episodes than I thought. Very last episode was sad.

When I watched it originally, I didn't realise that every episode was based on an actual history. I was googling and reading as I was watching.

by Anonymousreply 438September 7, 2018 12:01 AM

Just started to watch Death in Paradise and overall I like it. Though it's a bit shocking that for almost five seasons there was no gay character or gay plot (if you don't count catty Max in the flight attendants episode). Then season five and boom! You get a lesbian twist and a closeted suspect who was blackmailed by the murder victim. The other thing that's shocking (have not yet seen season seven) that there is no episode that takes place at a winery. All British murder shows have at least one episode that takes place in a winery. The only thing that comes close is some episode taking place at a distillery.

by Anonymousreply 439September 9, 2018 6:54 AM

Not a murder mystery but I am watching Judge John Deed with Martin Shaw. Courtroom drama. The British legal setup is bonkers; it is so radically different from the US system. This show uses a lot of acronyms for different departments and officials. There are different levels of judges, referred to by colors. The judges seem to live together in an upmarket boarding house? and they each have a full -time policeman bodyguard? The judge plays a very active part at the trial, not just ruling on objections (relatively few) (and "badgering the witness" is permissible) but lengthy questioning of witnesses. The prosecutor meets with the judge after work and they have many discussions about their current cases and he seems to offer advice on how to proceed.

So far, it's always been a jury trial (I thought jury trials were very rare in England ?) and in one episode, the jury came back with a guilty verdict, the accused then made an impassioned statement, and *while sitting there*, the jury all nodded their heads and then announced that they'd changed their minds and he was not guilty. Like I know writers have dramatic license but this is full on fantasy.

Lots of backstabbing and blackmail among the judges, the people who run the courtroom, and the higher ups. There was another legal series, Silk, which was also fascinating and SO CONFUSING because the legal system there, especially case assignments, is just NUTS.

by Anonymousreply 440September 9, 2018 11:36 AM

Does Father Brown have a first name?

by Anonymousreply 441September 12, 2018 1:38 AM

'Tis "Difficult."

by Anonymousreply 442September 12, 2018 2:07 AM

I want to blow Sid in the backseat of Lady Felicia’s Rolls Royce!

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by Anonymousreply 443September 12, 2018 2:17 AM

[quote]I want to blow Sid in the backseat of Lady Felicia’s Rolls Royce!

If you hurry to New York City, you can do it because he's starring in "Harry Potter & The Cursed Child" on Broadway.

by Anonymousreply 444September 12, 2018 2:22 AM

Yes, R444. But what about the Rolls that R443 specifically specified? Eh? What about that???

by Anonymousreply 445September 12, 2018 12:12 PM

r445, if you want it there's always a way ... and a rental place.

by Anonymousreply 446September 12, 2018 12:20 PM

]quote]But what about the Rolls that [R443] specifically specified? Eh? What about that???

Do I have to do everything? I found the guy.

by Anonymousreply 447September 12, 2018 2:03 PM

Death in Paradise is so laughable. You just know when the murder involves a specific time that it turns out the murder took place at a different time and all the drama about the suspects' alibies is pretty much pointless for the murder itself and the whole thing was a distraction. And that's the case almost every frigging time on a show with seven seasons where each season has eight episodes. But Gary Carr (Fidel Best) sure was sexy.

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by Anonymousreply 448September 12, 2018 2:11 PM

“Death in Paradise” is to British actors what “Law & Order” was to NY stage actors - an opportunity to earn some decent $. I only tune in if there’s a particular actor I like playing one of the murder suspects.

by Anonymousreply 449September 12, 2018 7:43 PM

Yeah, I am always thrilled when I recognize one of the Death In Paradise guest stars.

by Anonymousreply 450September 12, 2018 7:51 PM

So it's kinda like The Love Boat or Hotel for Brits?

by Anonymousreply 451September 13, 2018 2:37 AM

It's pretty much as inane as The Love Boat was with some lame ass crime "solving" thrown in.

by Anonymousreply 452September 13, 2018 2:39 AM

Gary Carr was Cousin Rose's African-American lover in "Downton Abbey." And he's now in "The Deuce" on HBO.

by Anonymousreply 453September 13, 2018 4:41 AM

I've been watching Scott and Bailey lately but I'm taking a break because the accumulated grot is getting me down. Last one I watched was the second ep with Nicola Walker and....yeah. Icky. Also Bailey is hard to take. The actress does a great job but the character is so unlikable.

by Anonymousreply 454September 13, 2018 2:47 PM

Gary Carr was also in a play with Russel Tovey in 2016.

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by Anonymousreply 455September 13, 2018 2:53 PM

I'd pay to see Gary Carr and Russell Tovey get it on.

by Anonymousreply 456September 13, 2018 3:44 PM

I was watching an episode of Messiah and Russell Tovey popped up as a computer geek.

by Anonymousreply 457September 13, 2018 4:11 PM

Oh man, I stayed up most of the night to stream the Scott and Bailey season with Nicola Walker. It was brutal but addictive.

by Anonymousreply 458September 18, 2018 11:19 AM

Lesley Sharp (Scott) is married to co-star Nicholas Gleaves in real life...lucky bitch!

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by Anonymousreply 459September 18, 2018 11:49 AM

I mix up Lesley Sharp with Sarah Lancashire.

by Anonymousreply 460September 18, 2018 1:15 PM

[quote]I mix up Lesley Sharp with Sarah Lancashire.

Both are good actresses, but Sarah Lancashire has a rounder, prettier face.

by Anonymousreply 461September 18, 2018 1:48 PM

I just finished the latest season of "Endeavour." I hate the Thursday family, with the exception of Fred obviously. The kids are spoiled shits, the wife is dim and unattractive, add in a crooked chav brother for good measure..poor Thursday.

After "Endeavour" I binged the Agatha Christie minseries on Amazon, "Ordeal by Innocence." So much eye candy. Matthew Goode steals every scene, but the guy who plays Mickey...wow. Christian Cooke is too beautiful for words. Glad they casted him after Ed Westwick got charged with rape. Cooke is a feast for the eyes.

by Anonymousreply 462September 21, 2018 9:39 PM

I love Christian Cooke, too. Swoon!

by Anonymousreply 463September 21, 2018 10:10 PM

Lesley Sharpe is the main reason I started watching Scott and Bailey. Loved her in Afterlife. I was a bit disappointed that Scott and Bailey doesn't give her juicier material.

by Anonymousreply 464September 23, 2018 11:35 AM

Christian Cooke fans, have you seen Magic City? It's actually more notable for its star, Steven Strait, but it's where I first saw CC. He made enough of an impression that I had to IMDB him after his first scenes.

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by Anonymousreply 465September 23, 2018 11:41 AM

The son is okay but Joan Thursday is just a mess. I don't think the writers know what to do with her because she doesn't fit into the Morse timeline. Neither does Fred though and because of that I expect him to get killed off at the end of each season.

by Anonymousreply 466September 23, 2018 1:27 PM

Does Steven Strait do any actual acting in Magic City? I think he's pretty weak on The Expanse. The only other thing I remember seeing him in was Sky High.

I watched the first ep of Wallender. It was fine but nothing special. Gotta admit, Branagh was good. But I don't have any interest in watching more.

Late to the party but I finally started on Broadchurch. Two episodes in and I'm totally hooked. Who does the dad remind me of? I haven't seen him in anything else yet he seems so familiar.

by Anonymousreply 467October 1, 2018 1:19 PM

[quote]Late to the party but I finally started on Broadchurch.

Piece of advice. Watch Season 1 and let that be the end. Seasons 2 and 3 suck big time!

by Anonymousreply 468October 1, 2018 2:04 PM

Listen to r468!! Season 2 was a disaster and Season 3 didn't have much to do with anything.

by Anonymousreply 469October 1, 2018 4:25 PM

I watched one episode of season two of broadchurch and it spoiled the series for me.

by Anonymousreply 470October 1, 2018 4:54 PM

Season 2 of Broadchurch is the worst because they introduce characters associated with David Tenant and the whole thing becomes a confusing mess. And they try to put the spotlight back on the parents from Season 1 and it doesn't really work. Season 2 should have been a whole new storyline.

Season 3 returns to a crime that they investigate, but it's about the rape of a woman, so that means the criminal is most likely going to be a man. The nice thing about Season 1 is that the whole community is brought into the story and the show brings out paranoia within the community with everyone thinking "My neighbor could have done this."

by Anonymousreply 471October 1, 2018 5:06 PM

r469 I watch season 2 & 3 for beautiful Dorset and Somerset 😍

by Anonymousreply 472October 1, 2018 5:08 PM

Well the last episode of Broadchurch left me gutted so I'm content to leave it there. No way they can improve on that. (Yeah I raced through the first series. So good!)

But how on earth do they contrive to keep David Tennant on the show? There's no reason for his character to remain in Broadchurch or have anything to do with police work.

Next up, Unforgotten. Is Nicola Walker going to make me cry?

by Anonymousreply 473October 4, 2018 2:12 PM

r473 They loved Tennant so much that they cast him the short-lived American remake ("Gracepoint.")

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by Anonymousreply 474October 4, 2018 3:27 PM

Unforgotten is amazing. Season 1 is good but I found it a little confusing. Season 2 is much better. As always, Walker is excellent and she has a great rapport with her fellow detective, Sanjeev Bhaskaar (not sure of sp).

by Anonymousreply 475October 4, 2018 5:00 PM

[quote]Next up, Unforgotten. Is Nicola Walker going to make me cry?

Unforgotten is really good. Nicola Walker is really great and I think all the seasons are worth watching.

[quote]But how on earth do they contrive to keep David Tennant on the show?

Season 2 deals with the trial from Season 1, so his involvement with the case is the reason to keep him there. However, some weird subplot with another of his cases is added and it's really confusing. The only reason to watch Season 2 is for the addition of Charlotte Rampling and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as the lawyers. Just fast forward to their scenes and forget watching anything else in Season 2.

by Anonymousreply 476October 4, 2018 5:01 PM

Just streamed Season 3 of Unforgotten and it's great. Not expected to air in the US until early 2019, though.

by Anonymousreply 477October 4, 2018 10:29 PM

^ Just a side note: I am finding it increasingly difficult to find streaming sites on line that don't require some kind of "free" registration (of course, with your credit card).

by Anonymousreply 478October 4, 2018 10:30 PM

Online not online.

by Anonymousreply 479October 4, 2018 10:31 PM

r478, do you use a VPN?

by Anonymousreply 480October 4, 2018 10:34 PM

No I don't. I'm a technology maroon. If it's relatively easy to set up I guess I can try it.

by Anonymousreply 481October 4, 2018 11:22 PM

Thanks for the Broadchurch info. : )

by Anonymousreply 482October 5, 2018 11:57 AM

The last episode of season 1 of Broadchurch was very moving; impossible not to cry during the bonfire scene.

Then season 2 just fucks that right up. The writer claimed he had three seasons plotted out when he sold the BBC (or whoever) on the idea but I think he only had one season figured out and then had to scramble to cobble together the rest when the first season was so popular.

I just watched a short series from several years ago on DVD, a woman disappears leaving her two young kids, handbag, and phone in the car parked by the side of the road.

by Anonymousreply 483October 5, 2018 12:18 PM

^ It was called Five Days and had a phenomenal cast.

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by Anonymousreply 484October 5, 2018 12:27 PM

[quote]Life on Mars (the UK version with John Simm)

[quote]State of Play (the UK version with Bill Nighy)

Both Life on Mars and State of Play star John Simm and Philip Glenister. I love Simm in particular, but both of them are excellent in anything, even with the shoddiest material.

Simm played a crime lord in a cancelled US show with Peter Krause called the Catch. Now he's starring in an ITV conspiracy thriller series called Strangers.

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by Anonymousreply 485October 5, 2018 2:52 PM

John Simm is one of those actors who, depending on how he's made up and filmed, can look either really sexy or really ugly.

by Anonymousreply 486October 5, 2018 3:16 PM

Jodie Whittaker, the new Dr Who, plays the mother of a crime victim in Broadchurch.

by Anonymousreply 487October 5, 2018 3:26 PM

[quote]Jodie Whittaker, the new Dr Who, plays the mother of a crime victim in Broadchurch.

Then they try to shoehorn her character into Seasons 2 and 3. Ok, I get Season 2. But by Season 3, there is no point in her character being there. It's like someone said, "Well, Jodie was signed to a 3 year contract, so you damn well better use her."

by Anonymousreply 488October 5, 2018 3:29 PM

Jodie’s husband is hot IRL.

by Anonymousreply 489October 5, 2018 4:42 PM

Jodie's pretty damn cute herself. (But then almost anyone is next to Olivia Colman and that ugly rape victim in season 3.)

by Anonymousreply 490October 5, 2018 4:49 PM

I looked up a picture of Jody’s husband.

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by Anonymousreply 491October 5, 2018 10:47 PM

He’s Latino. Don’t know where in the US he was born.

by Anonymousreply 492October 5, 2018 10:55 PM

Gay actor Simon Callow appears in an episode of "Death in Paradise".

by Anonymousreply 493October 12, 2018 2:12 PM

I don't read the credits on Midsomer Murders so I'm always surprised when future celebs show up. I just finished the season 3 episode with a very young Orlando Bloom and Tobias Menzies. I never really thought Orlando was that hot, but he was so beautiful at this age. In one scene, they show his mugshot and he's just so pretty it looks like a fashion shot.

by Anonymousreply 494October 17, 2018 12:10 AM

The woman who plays Lady Rosamund on Downtown (Samantha Bond) shows up several times on Midsomer Murders.

by Anonymousreply 495October 17, 2018 12:25 AM

I just watched the first episode of George Gently (starring Martin Shaw as a cop who transfers from London to County Durham, set in the 60s) and it had Richard Armitage and Sean Evans (Endeavour) in a motorcycle gang.

by Anonymousreply 496October 18, 2018 5:17 PM

It’s weird that the OTT dumb inspector on Father Brown is a serious cop in DCI Banks

by Anonymousreply 497October 18, 2018 5:25 PM

^ That ep also had a gay plotline, I watched it thinking "DL would love this!"

by Anonymousreply 498October 19, 2018 3:00 AM

Has anyone else seen "Hinterland"? It's a Welsh program, very much like "Shetland". I can't decide if I like Hinterland - too brooding, plots take a long time to resolve and the trope of the lead detective leaving London because of his daughter's death feels unoriginal.

by Anonymousreply 499October 19, 2018 12:30 PM

[quote]Do rich people with posh educations become police officers?

Turns out there are a couple of them --

Peter St Clair-Erskine, 7th Earl of Rosslyn is the most recent, who joined the Met as a constable in 1980 on the recommendation of his third cousin, Alastair Charles St Clair Sutherland, Lord Strathnaver.

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by Anonymousreply 500October 23, 2018 2:46 PM

[quote]Do rich people with posh educations become police officers?

We certainly do!

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by Anonymousreply 501October 23, 2018 3:12 PM

I've been watching No Offense with Joanna Scanlan. In one episode, she goes nude. Holy Christ, nobody needed to see that. I now hate Paul Abbott for doing that to his fans.

by Anonymousreply 502October 23, 2018 6:43 PM

I've been watching Fortitude with Luke Treadaway. In one episode he goes nude. Holy Christ, I needed to see that. I now hate the director for his "tasteful" camera angles.

We do get full dong from one of the other actors though. Oh, uh, and it's a really good show and I recommend it. Avoid spoilers!

by Anonymousreply 503October 28, 2018 3:11 PM

Is season 3 of Hinterland the end of the series? They finally closed the case opened in the first episose of season 1. Have they announced anything about the future of the series?

Season 3 of No Offence was ok. yes, Joanna Scanlan nude at the window wasn't needed

Just seen first 2 episodes of the "new" Midsomer, the ones with the blonde old lady as the new doctor. They are ok.

by Anonymousreply 504December 2, 2018 11:22 PM

Midsomer Murders grows with each viewing. You could almost do a Rocky Horror treatment with some episodes.

by Anonymousreply 505December 3, 2018 12:38 AM

[quote] Is season 3 of Hinterland the end of the series? They finally closed the case opened in the first episose of season 1. Have they announced anything about the future of the series?

I think I've read somewhere that, even though it was never announced that S3 would be the final one, it is almost certainly so.

by Anonymousreply 506December 3, 2018 1:42 AM

Grantchester new season will premiere on ITV on January 11th. Yes, it has been dispatched to Friday night

by Anonymousreply 507December 15, 2018 10:48 PM

I watched the first 2 episodes (the first case) of BBC's In the Dark. Well, it started well. It looked potentially intriguing but the finale looked rushed

by Anonymousreply 508December 15, 2018 10:49 PM

[quote]I watched the first 2 episodes (the first case) of BBC's In the Dark. Well, it started well. It looked potentially intriguing but the finale looked rushed

I've noticed that in a few British miniseries. They meander along and then all of a sudden it's like "Blimey, we have to resolve this and we have only one episode left." I wonder how good their showrunners are that pacing is off.

by Anonymousreply 509December 16, 2018 12:09 AM

Endeavour is back starting from Sunday 10 February at 8pm on ITV.

by Anonymousreply 510January 30, 2019 7:40 PM

I couldn’t make it through Hinterland. They tried so hard to be gritty, noir and brooding that I found it a caricature. Same with Branaugh’s Wallander. We get it. Murder is demoralizing, being a homicide detective is stressful.

by Anonymousreply 511January 30, 2019 10:44 PM

[quote] Midsomer Murders grows with each viewing. You could almost do a Rocky Horror treatment with some episodes

You must have seen the episodes in The Killings at Badgers Drift and Dead Letters with Elizabeth Spriggs and Richard Cant.

by Anonymousreply 512January 30, 2019 10:52 PM

Also the Midsomer episode where killings were committed with a wine bottle catapult and a TV set that fills with wine, drowning a man who woke up with his head in side the TV set, “Hidden Depths.”

by Anonymousreply 513January 30, 2019 10:58 PM

Lady Rosamund (Samantha Bond) appears in a few episodes of Midsomer. In fact, several of the characters from Downton Abbey pop up in various episodes.

by Anonymousreply 514February 6, 2019 6:26 AM

R514, "characters" from Downton make appearances in Midsomer or do you mean actors we know from Downton appear on Midsomer? I have a hard time believing any Downton characters are alive to be central to a current Midsomer plot...

by Anonymousreply 515February 6, 2019 12:16 PM

The new seasons of Grantchester and Endeavour are airing this summer on PBS

by Anonymousreply 516February 6, 2019 3:32 PM
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