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Prime Suspect 1973 isn’t primarily an exercise in nostalgia. Even so, it’s clearly set in a more innocent time when criminals could carry pneumatic drills and sledgehammers into a café that’s next door to a bank, in broad daylight, without attracting any suspicion. How the ‘bank job’ subplot ties into the murder enquiry is not … >
ITV’s new Prime Suspect prequel series takes DCI Tennison’s battle with a sexist police force from the original series and dials it back 18 years, to where young WPC Tennison is called on to make the teas and clean up prisoners’ vomit. There’s even one scene where a black male officer leaves his washing up … >
Having joked about it last week, I’m beginning to wonder if I might actually be on to something because yet again Midsomer Murders gives us only two murders as opposed to the traditional three. Going a step further, both victims in ‘Red in Tooth and Claw’ are estate agents so one could even argue that … >
I don’t know if some new quota has recently come into effect, but for the second episode in a row there are only two Midsomer Murders as opposed to the usual three. In the case of ‘Last Man Out’ though, I think we can forgive the shortfall – because the potential third victim, saved in … >
‘Crime and Punishment’ is set in Bleakridge which is, we’re told, “the most remote village in Midsomer.” It also has a chronic shortage of ample parking – either that or, despite its remoteness, it is something of a Mecca for the tourist trade. Whatever the reason, there seems to be no end of cars parked … >
Grantchester tasks itself with fitting a lot into each episode – mixing personal trauma, familial relationships and a little bit of social commentary in with the homicide and intrigue, it’s no wonder that its murder mysteries are rarely the most devilish or convoluted. That’s not a criticism by the way, just an observation – and … >
Midsomer Murders is back for a nineteenth season, and anybody still disappointed by last year’s killing-free opener need have no concerns this time. ‘The Village That Rose From The Dead’ has deaths galore, from the showy and gruesome (crushed by a tank) to the unexpected (local yokel Hugh Dennis boa-constricted to death). There’s even a … >
Just as the clinching piece of evidence arrives in the final episode of One of Us, detectives Juliet and Andrew seem to lose interest in the whole thing. Though I wouldn’t go so far as to say I felt the same, it was certainly a less nerve-wracking sprint to the finishing line than I was … >
As expected, the penultimate part of BBC One’s One of Us really kicks things up a gear. Several times before the close of Episode 3 I found myself thinking that this, surely, must be the end: the police arriving at the funeral! Both families taken into custody! Rob’s confession! When it comes, the cliffhanger is … >
“We’re not made for this,” says Claire Elliot during this week’s episode of One of Us. She’s referring to the tacit decision to cover up the murder of her brother’s killer, and she’s got a point. Concealing the body itself isn’t too difficult, but it’s hardly a mark of criminal genius to try and hide … >