Dalgliesh

Premise:  Adam Dalgliesh, P.D. James' intellectual, poetry-writing Scotland Yard detective, first appeared as a Detective Superintendent in 1983's Death of an Expert Witness. This seven-episode case involves a murder investigation at an isolated forensics laboratory. In the final episode, in a somewhat jarring and brief scene, we learn that Dalgliesh's wife Jean and unborn son died during childbirth. Dalgliesh (Roy Marsden) is methodical and introspective, though he can turn on the charm with a quick smile and women often find him attractive. Over the years, he progresses to Detective Chief Superintendent and finally achieves the rank of Commander. His only relative is his Aunt Jane, who bequeaths him a cottage, converted from a lighthouse, on the coast of Norfolk. He spends some time there and becomes involved in a murder investigation in Devices and Desires (1991).

Running Time:  The running times vary greatly. Some cases consisted of up to seven 50-minute installments, while 1993's Unnatural Causes was a 103-minute movie.

Status:  Ten cases were broadcast between 1983 and 1998. They're all available on DVD in the U.S.

Production Notes:  Phyllis Dorothy James--best known as P.D. James--introduced DCI Adam Dalgliesh in her 1962 novel Cover Her Face. Over the next four decades, she wrote 13 more Dalgliesh mysteries, with the last one being The Private Patient in 2008. The first twelve were adapted for television, with Roy Marsden starring in the first ten and Martin Shaw (George Gently) playing the detective in a later series consisting of two two-part episodes. The cases in the TV series appear in a different order from the books, which explains why Dalgliesh is introduced as a Detective Superintendent instead of a DCI.

Our Review:  Dalgliesh is unique in that some of the mysteries take over five hours to unravel over multiple episodes. Its length provides more time for character development and also more complex plotlines. Some of the show's critics have complained about slow pacing, but we found the stories to be absorbing and the settings ideal for homicide (e.g., a hospital, a nursing home). Roy Marsden is well-cast as Dalgliesh, coming across as professional and very much in charge (he uses his commanding voice to great effect). Some of the plots vary from the P.D. James novels, but they still reflect the hidden desires and dark secrets that drive her murderers.

Grade:  A-.

Heat of the Sun

Premise: When a child killer evades justice in 1930s London, Detective Superintendent Albert Tyburn (Trevor Eve) takes matters in his own hands--with deadly results. To mitigate a sticky situation, Tyburn's Scotland Yard superior banishes the detective to colonial Kenya. Saddled with an incompetent new boss and primitive police methods, Tyburn struggles to fit into a society populated by affluent British landowners and the poverty-stricken laborers that work for them. It's a place that's ripe for...murder.

Running Time:  100 minutes.

Status:  One season was broadcast on 1998. It's available on DVD in the U.S.

Production Notes: The series was filmed on location in Zimbabwe. Susannah Harker plays Tyburn's love interest, an independent-minded aviator based on real-life pilot and author Beryl Markham. Harker gained fame three years earlier fas Jane Bennet in the immensely-popular BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Star Trevor Eve would later plays a less likable sleuth in the long-running cold case mystery series Waking the Dead.

Our Review: Heat of the Sun benefits mightily from a setting and time that provide a fascinating backdrop for the murder cases. Trevor Eve makes Tyburn a sharp, but cynical detective who pushes the boundaries of what his superiors will tolerate. His attitude meshes perfectly with the show's unflattering portrait of British Colonials, many of whom have no interest in understanding the culture of the country where they live. It's too bad Heat of the Sun didn't last longer than a single season. One suspects that the ratings did not justify the costs of the on-location production.

Grade:  B+.

Our Photo Tribute to 40 British TV Detectives

Inspector Lewis (aka Lewis)

Kevin Whately as Robbie Lewis.

Premise:  Kevin Whately first appeared as Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis in 33 episodes of the Inspector Morse TV series from 1987-2000. He reprised in the role in a 2006 made-for-television movie. Set five years after Morse's death, Lewis has been promoted to Detective Inspector and his wife has been killed in a hit-and-run accident. On his return to Oxford from a stint in the British Virgin Islands, the working-class "old school" Lewis is paired with Detective Sergeant James Hathaway (Laurence Fox), a Cambridge-educated young man who once studied for priesthood. Although Lewis and Hathaway share little in common, they make a formidable investigative team and eventually become close friends. Pathologist Dr. Laura Hobson (Claire Holman), who appeared later in episodes of Inspector Morse, assists Lewis and Hathaway.

Running Time:  90 minutes (some of the later cases are broadcast as two 45-minute episodes).

Status:  There have been 33 cases broadcast between 2006 and 2015. As of June 2016, all but the last seasons are available on DVD in the U.S.

Production Notes:  Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis appeared in Colin Dexter 's 1975 novel Last Bus to Woodstock, the first of 13 Inspector Morse books. The literary Lewis is older than Kevin Whately was when he debuted as Lewis on the Morse TV series. On the decision to end Inspector Lewis after nine season, Whately said in a 2015 interview with The Daily Mail: "There were 33 Inspector Morse stories. I suppose it's a sentimental thing, but I wouldn't want to do more Lewis than we did Morse because I do still think of it as an offshoot."

Our Review:  Although Inspector Morse is considered a classic detective series by many, it has never been one of our favorites. Thus, we were initially surprised with Inspector Lewis, a first-rate series with clever plots and appealing characters set--like Morse and later Endeavor--in the beautiful city of Oxford. The camaraderie between Lewis and Hathaway, though, is the series' greatest asset. They play off each other wonderfully, with Lewis' uncanny intuition working in perfect harmony with Hathaway's refined intelligence. In fact, when Hathaway eventually gets promoted to Detective Inspector, it's almost disappointing because the relationship evolves ever so slightly (as it must). An added bonus is the long-time friendship between Lewis and Dr. Hobson, which subtly grows into something more over time.

Grade:  A.

Injustice

James Purfoy as Will Travers.

Anthony Horowitz (Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders) wrote this five-part 2011 miniseries in which three seemingly divergent storylines eventually converge to unravel two murder cases.

William Travers (James Purefoy) is a former London-based barrister who has moved to Suffolk following a nervous breakdown incurred while working on a murder case. To his wife Jane's surprise, Will agrees to defend an old friend who has been accused of killing a young woman with whom he was having an affair. Meanwhile, Jane, who volunteers at a local youth prison, has befriended a teenage boy that shows promise as an author. She shows a partial manuscript to her former boss in the publishing business and he is equally impressed.

During a trial in Suffolk, Travers meets Detective Inspector Mark Wenborn, an unlikable cop whose questionable ethics are tolerated because he gets results. Wenborn becomes the lead investigator when an itinerant worker is found shot dead in a farmer's shack. Wenborn focuses on two critical clues: fresh tire marks near the shack and signature markings on the fatal bullet.

Of course, the viewer already knows the identity of the second murderer: Horowitz unveils that shocking revelation in the closing shot of the first episode!

Injustice isn't Horowitz's best work, but his second-best is still pretty darn good. As he did in some of his Midsomer Murders scripts, Horowitz uses flashbacks to explain the motives for the crimes. However, whereas he employed a prologue in Midsomer, he sprinkles the flashbacks throughout Injustice--allowing the viewer to piece together the puzzle gradually.

Creed-Miles as DI Wenborn.

James Purefoy commands attention as the main protagonist, but is still upstaged by Charlie Creed-Miles as DI Wenborn. The latter is not just a dirty cop; he is one of the most disgusting detectives in British television. He beats his wife, berates his black detective sergeant, insults one witness and blackmails another, cheats on his wife with a prostitute, and brutally threatens a young man. When a colleague complains about him, the assistant chief constable defends Wenborn's methods (though he likely doesn't know the extent of Wenborn's antics).

As the setting for Foyle's War proved, Anthony Horowitz likes to bend the conventions of traditional mysteries. With Injustice, his inclusion of an emotionally-fragile barrister and a crooked cop (who replaces the typical hero) makes this miniseries an intriguing outing. I also like the intersecting plots, though Horowitiz used that technique even more effectively in his earlier miniseries Collision (2009).

Grade:  B.