Dept Q
Sherlock & Daughter
Death Valley
Art Detectives
Four crime series from the British Isles from four different locations, on the islands and each rewarding to some extent in its its own way...
I would put Dept Q, set in Edinburgh, at the top. It is an out and out thriller, and features a top notch cast and quality writing and direction, seasoned with dark humour. The central figure is an irascible detective who has just gone through a traumatic experience and ends up being appointed to head up a new cold case unit working out of the sub-sub-sub-basements of the police building. Yes, they are trying to keep him out of more trouble but also out of the limelight.
He gradually assembles a squad of misfits who see Dept Q as an opportunity, including a neurotic constable who only was given trivial work, a mysterious Syrian fellow who is not a policeman but has any number of scary skills, and a colleague who has been left unable to walk after the traumatic experience mentioned above.
As the series unfolds and the mystery is solved, it is a relief that there does not seem to be any impulse to soften the lead character. I haven’t read the books the series is based on, but I am definitely looking forward to Season 2. Dept. Q is good enough to binge watch, or at least finish the 8 episodes in 4 or 5 days.
Next we hear to London for Sherlock and Daughter. When I came across this one, I was attracted by the idea of David Thewlis playing Sherlock Holmes as ferociously as his character in Mike Leigh’s great film Naked, but no surprise, this Sherlock can be a bit shirty but is much less abrasive. We get versions of the famous characters like Moriarty and Dr. Watson, but the other main character is a teenage girl who claims to be Holmes’ daughter. I suspect it was audience considerations that make her American, a gambit that is not always successful. Early on, the oddly name dactress Blu Hunt seems to be in a different show from the experienced British actors around her, though she does catch up a bit in the later episodes. I suspect her character will appeal to the same demographic will enjoy the parts of the series that revolve around a debutante, not to mention an almost romance with a handsome rogue.
The central plot, which revolves around a secret criminal organization called the Red Thread, seemed almost silly at times, though it picked up steam as things developed. The veteran actors, including Thewlis, are fun to watch, but this is more of a once a week watch.
Then we head to Wales for Death Valley, which you would not guess from the title is an out-and-out comedy. The chief reason to watch this is Timothy Spall, who plays a retired actor, best known for playing a beloved TV detective but is now living in virtual seclusion. When he meets an eccentric detective, a truly odd person who turns out to be a big fan of that TV detective (and who sometimes seems to forget he only played a detective on TV), he is drawn out of his shell and becomes indispensable in helping her solve her cases, much to the dismay of her superiors.
Strangely, no one seems to notice how truly weird the detective is, but I guess that helps with the comedy. Still, Spall is the main reason to watch this somewhat amusing if minor low budget six-parter.
And finally we head to Northern Ireland for another six part series Art Detectives. Well, sort of. Although the series was officially made there, in only one of the episodes do we get to hear the wonderful local accents.
Instead, the two lead characters, an investigator for the one-man Heritage Crimes Unit who get sent out to various cases involving art, heritage, and collecting, and his sidekick, who he recruits to join the unit in the first episode. They land in various galleries and manors, reminiscent of the French series, The Art of Crime.
The Art of Crime has better locations – the Louvre, Versailles, and the like – but Art Detectives is better in that it largely eschewed silly side stories about the characters. Yes, the plot points involving the trouble-making father of the investigator who has enjoyed a long career as an art forger could easily has skewed in that direction, but mercifully these interactions are mostly confined to advancing the plots, which are interesting in and of themselves. I also enjoyed the glimpses into various elements of the art world not usually open to outsiders.
There is no gunplay and nary a chase scene, but Art Detectives is well above the banality of the ‘cozy’ mysteries. I will be watching for Season 2, which I expect will be a little better, continuing the gradual improvement evident through the first season.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27995114/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_3_nm_0_in_0_q_dept%2520q
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31322085/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_sherlock%2520and%2520da
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32409123/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_cdt_t_1
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