Inspector George Gently - Series 8 - Gently and the New Age

My review of the previous episode: Gently Liberated.

[Spoilers ahead]

As a mystery, Inspector George Gently is hard to assign a genre. It's more violent than cozies like Foyle's War, but hasn't abandoned its whodunnit roots for the high-octane pulp of Luther. Its violence is anchored by the moral code of its protagonist. Noir? Gritty mystery? In any case, both its morality and its darkness come together for one last showdown in Gently and the New Age.  

It's a nice thing to see a show go out on top. Many drag it out, watering down the substance till they've become a self-parody. Inspector George Gently doesn't do that, giving us a final episode true to the integrity of the series and the character, though probably not the story we expected. It might not be the best episode the show has ever produced, but it's a strong ending and that's quite an achievement for a show that's been running for over a decade.

Inspector George Gently - Series 8 - Gently Liberated

My review of the previous episode, Son of a Gun.

I haven't watched any George Gently in a long time. As reentry episodes go, this is a good one, if just because it has everything that has defined the show for the last ten years. There's George - stolid, reliable, a lion for justice. Bacchus - smarmy, unreliable, a jackal who wants to be a lion. There's corruption in high places and '60s fashion and mistreatment of minorities. We've seen all of this before, but the knowledge that this is the show's final season gives it an edge that lifts it above a somewhat basic plot.

Inspector George Gently - Series 7 - Son of a Gun

My review of last week's episode: Gently Among Friends

Perhaps the greatest irony of Inspector George Gently is that its tragedy always stems from its basic conservatism. To quote C.S. Lewis: "A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line." This show has always remembered what a straight line looked like. I remember that Gently Upside Down, an episode back in series 4, ends with a young woman, Hazel, berating a failed authority figure. He was meant "to take care of us, not use us." She acts like that should be the natural state of the world.

George Gently has spanned most of the 1960s and Hazel was hardly the only iconoclast. But these children railing against their fathers are never righteous heroes. They're always broken, and even if they wish to transcend "the system," they still display a tangible hunger for the world before it was fallen. They hate their fathers, but want to impress them. They are not men but stunted children desiring attention.

Inspector George Gently - Series 7 - Gently Among Friends

My review of last week's episode: Breathe In the Air

Two weeks ago my dad bought half a dozen Lyle Lovett CDs from a sales rack. For the last few days, my listening library has consisted mostly of Lovett and Johnny Cash. Pondering over the previous episode of George Gently while listening to That's Right (You're Not From Texas) made me think of odd things. What if our heroes were transported abroad (a la Inspector Morse, in two episodes), to investigate crime in the Lone Star State?

Imagine my amusement when I found Gently and Bacchus dropped into a flashy American club with Johnny Cash playing in the background (Will the Circle Be Unbroken and Ring of Fire, to be specific). They're looking into the death of Scott Parker, a visionary who wanted to be "Mr. Newcastle" (wait, I thought this was Durham?). It looks like suicide at first: he threw himself off a bridge onto a pile of trash - but it's soon seen that he was dead before he fell. It's looking like murder.

Inspector George Gently - Series 7 - Breathe In the Air

My review of last week's episode: Gently With the Women

It's not really a proper George Gently series until George battles evil in high places (last week, it was only mid-places). Now he must cope not only (as per usual) with corruption in the ranks, but the vast bulk of corporate crime, as well as his bickering subordinates.

After a brisk morning run, George dashes off to investigate the suspicious suicide of Valerie Cullen. All seems straightforward, but George isn't convinced. He starts to delve into her past. She's a doctor, suffered from depression, and was estranged from her smarmy husband - also a doctor. Eventually, it becomes apparent that Valerie had been investigating health violations at an old factory - a fact which many people resented.

Inspector George Gently - Series 7 - Gently With the Women

The new series starts off on a somber note as a woman is violently attacked in the shadows beneath Durham Cathedral. It is pitch dark in the alleys by the river, but the glowing face of the enormous edifice looms against the night sky, passive, silent, immovable, uncaring, unhearing.

Meanwhile, George Gently is in the ring, attempting to keep up with a younger colleague. Martin Shaw, at 70, still looks like he can throw a mean punch, but George's age is catching up with him. He is suddenly KO’d, letting a punch fly right past his guard, and wakes up in the doctor’s office. He's none too happy about the fuss, but she is insistent that this may be more than a mere fluke.

Yet More British Detectives, 2015, 2016

This is older news, for the latest check this feed.

Wrapped, upcoming:

The seventh series of Inspector George Gently now has a U.K. air date of Wednesday, April 29, at 8:00 PM.

Upcoming British Detective Shows, 2015, 2016

This is older information - check out the latest here.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that if one is a British actor of mature years, it is pretty much inevitable that one will play a detective on the telly. This is the case for Martin Clunes, who is best known for playing the irascible title character in Doc Martin, and who is now, at last, taking up the magnifying glass to do a bit of investigating.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Clunes) is best-known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, but he was also quite a sleuth himself. In 1903, Anglo-Indian solicitor George Edalji was arrested and jailed for a series of brutal attacks on animals. Three years later he was released, but the taint of the crime remained. He enlisted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who, after Kipling, was Britain's most famous author - to help clear his name. Along with his loyal secretary, Alfred Wood, Sir Arthur traipsed around the countryside, using his powers of deduction to track down the truth.

Upcoming British Detectives, 2015

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2015 will get off to a great start with the U.K. premiere of a second season of Broadchurch. The first season (my review) was, by a long stretch, the best TV show I’ve viewed this year. The plot centered on the murder of a young boy, Danny Latimer. As the whodunit played out, we witnessed the town disintegrate into suspicion and betrayal. The media’s arrival, accompanied by incendiary headlines and invasive paparazzi, only exacerbated problems caused by a lengthy investigation. But while the conclusion was devastating, it was not untempered by hope from an unexpected (but appropriate) corner.

British Mystery Coming 2014, 2015

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Starting Thursday, October 2, Gracepoint will hit the small screen in America. Folk have been quick to assure us that it will not be a point-by-point remake (at least, after the first two episodes) of the original, superb series Broadchurch - but I'm not entirely convinced. (Update: my review of the first episode.)

Since my last update list, I've seen a few more things turn up.

Besides more seasons of Foyle's War (complete - here's a brief interview from the elusive Mr. Kitchen), Broadchurch (filming), Father Brown (filming), and Sherlock (being written) we have...

Upcoming BBC Mystery - 2014, 2015

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Endeavour - 2nd season. Americans can catch this excellent Inspector Morse prequel every Sunday on PBS, from July 6 to July 20. Bringing back Shaun Evans as Endeavour Morse, and the lovely Roger Allam as his ursine mentor, Inspector Fred Thursday, the show follows the pair as they investigate a series of murders among Oxford's evocative spires. Needless to say, there shall be opera, ale, romance, and old cars. For those of you who can't wait, check out my reviews: Trove, Nocturne, Sway, and Neverland.

Agatha Christie's Poirot - 13th and final season. At last, we on this side of the pond are going to see the conclusion to the long-running series starring David Suchet as the eponymous Belgian. The old cast members, Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson, and Pauline Moran, will reprise their roles as, respectively, Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp, and Miss Lemon. Two episodes will air on the PBS Sundays after Endeavour, July 27 and August 3 - these two, and the last three will be exclusively online at Acorn.tv every Monday from July 28 to August 25. Update - Reviews thus far: The Big Four, Dead Man's Folly, Elephants Can Remember, The Labours of Hercules.

Gracepoint - 1st season. Already filmed, and also starring David Tennant, this American remake of the superb British miniseries Broadchurch will air this fall on Fox. Frankly, I'm skeptical. The trailer seems a point-for-point copy of the original - nothing unique. Another thing: will they keep the religious element? It was essential. My review of the original.