Crime Time Preview

New books I WILL HAVE VENGEANCE, TV NOIR, FLESH AND BLOOD

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:02:00 +0000

Something for weekend – two fresh new crime novels and a history of TV noir to keep you busy between crime series. And drop by the new Crime Readers' Association site, which offers news, reviews events and exclusive events with crime and thriller authors.

I Will Have Vengeance by Maurizio De Giovanni
This is published by Hersilia Press, the small UK outfit that specialises in translating fine Italian crime novels into English. They've come up with a really atmospheric story here, set in 1930s Naples where the enigmatic and aloof Commissario Ricciardi is investigating the murder of a wonderful tenor at the opera house. Of course, maestro Vezzi sang like a dream, but was a pig of a man, so motives for his killing abound. Ricciardi is an intriguing hero who carries the gift/curse of being able to see the dead at the moment of their deaths. So he is a lonely figure, haunted by the anguish of the victims and compelled to seek some justice for them. His grim focus on getting the job done makes him unpopular with his bosses, but he has a loyal deputy, Maione, to support him in what is a quite tender male relationship. Naples and the opera come alive in a fine mystery.

TV Noir: The Twentieth Century by Ray Starman
Brief but fascinating, this tour of noir television shows takes in many fondly remembered classics, such as Dragnet, The Untouchables, NYPD, Miami Vice and even The X Files. Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon and Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past provided the template for the morally ambivalent loners who morphed into anti-heroes such as Richard Kimble in The Fugitive or The Prisoner. So how noirish was the famously pastel-shaded Miami Vice? Starman points out that noir isn't all dark shadows and grey fedoras. It may have found its feet among in gangster and police dramas, but hard and existential noir was about wounded people in horror shows, Westerns or war stories. Fasten your seat belts…

Flesh and Blood by Mark Peterson

Here's another novel that will be unfamiliar to readers because it is by a fresh new British crime writer. It opens in spectacular fashion with a shooting and chase at Brighton Racecourse. We then meet ambitious young detective sergeant Minter, who's just joined Brighton's elite crime squad and is immediately made unwelcome by his old-school boss, Beckett. Drug wars, grisly murders and corruption make this a full-on thriller, but Peterson creates well-rounded, damaged characters to lift this above ordinary crime fare. Minter is a believable hero, having had a hard time as a child in a brutal care home, he's emerged as committed to the police but something of a conformist. However, he needs all his grit to get through the trial by fire that his first big detecting job turns into.

Murdoch Mysteries series 5 PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:40:00 +0000

Murdoch of the Klondike – with Jack London. (Pics: Alibi)

Rating: ★★★½

Alibi, Tuesdays from 28 February, 9pm

Story: Murdoch has left the Toronto police behind after being suspended and is prospecting for gold in the Canadian Rockies. He is heartbroken and feels guilty over a case he mishandled. But then he meets a woman who is suspected of murder…

This is a quirky series – CSI meets a Victorian Toronto populated by British soap actors. Not only is it set in the past but it is a distinctly old-fashioned bit of TV, having the look and feel of a hit series from the 1970s.

Not easily rattled – Dr Emily Grace

That is probably the secret of its success, being a straight good-triumphing-over-evil drama, with little bad language or gore, despite the frequent morgue scenes. The stories are based on the novels of Maureen Jennings and follow detective William Murdoch as he tries to solve murders using fledgling forensic techniques.

Murdoch, played by the doleful Yannick Bisson, may be quick on the new technology but he is a ditherer when it comes to romance. As the new series begins, he is still nursing a broken heart over Dr Ogden, who, after four series of Murdoch's faffing, finally married someone else.

EastEnders' Jill Halfpenny
So, having also been suspended over an investigation that went wrong, he is out in the Rockies prospecting for gold, and here we meet the show's big star – the fantastic scenery. Canada is simply stunning and looks convincingly like a lawless frontier. Anyway, while trying to keep a low profile, Murdoch meets Elizabeth Bryant (EastEnders and Waterloo Road's Jill Halfpenny), who is suspected of murder.

He tries not to get involved, but when she learns he is a detective and won't help her, he feels guilty. It's not long before Murdoch gets technical, in the forensic sense, with the bemused Mounties, and uncovers a murderous plot concerning gold.

A trademark of the series is its use of real historical events and figures, and in this opener Murdoch is helped by a young American about to become a famous writer – Jack London.

Murdoch – Yannick Bisson

Your chance to question Murdoch
Here the show get seriously corny. When London asks Murdoch if he will ever return to the Rockies, he replies, 'If I feel the call of the wild.' Talk about hitting rocky bottom.

Meanwhile, Constable Crabtree struggles in Murdoch's absence, there's a new face in the pathology department, Dr Emily Grace, and it's good to see inspector Brackenreid back in the shape of former Corrie star Thomas Craig, the most red-blooded actor in the show.

Murdoch Mysteries is a decent bit of mainstream entertainment, and its historical mysteries are interesting and fun enough to make it a worldwide hit. A sixth series goes into production in April.

• Alibi channel is thrilled to have this new series exclusively and is inviting fans to submit questions to Yannick Bisson at this link.

Cast: Yannick Bisson Detective William Murdoch, Helene Joy Julia Ogden, Jonny Harris Constable George Crabtree, Thomas Craig Brackenreid, Lachlan Murdoch Higgins, Georgina Reilly Dr Emily Grace, Nigel Bennett Chief Constable Giles, Jill Halfpenny Elizabeth Bryant, Paul Braunstein Arlen Pike, Aaron Ashmore Jack London, Mike McPhaden Isaac McKay, Matt Cooke Sam Steele, Jennifer Kydd Kate Linfield, Shauna MacDonald Mrs Billings, Brian Fidler Assayer

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Foyle's War returns 2013

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:19:00 +0000

'It’s great to be wanted and a pleasure to be back,' says actor Michael Kitchen, as ITV announces the return of Foyle's War in 2013. The setting for the much-loved period detective drama will shift from the war years to 1946-47, with Foyle in a new role of Senior Intelligence Officer on the trail of various traitors. The three stories – two written by author Anthony Horowitz, one by David Kane – will include Foyle tracking down atomic spies and a true tale of government corruption. 'I have returned to Foyle’s War because there are still some amazing stories I want to tell,' says screenwriter and novelist Anthony. 'The war may be over but Foyle’s career goes on.' Honeysuckle Weeks should return as Samantha Stewart, who is now married. The return of Foyle’s War has been in development since Acorn Media, a leading distributor of British television in the US, purchased rights to the series in 2010, when some fans feared the show was finished for good after series seven. ITV previously cancelled it in 2007, only for fan complaints to prompt its revival. Production starts in London in September.

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Sheridan Smith in Mrs Biggs, Marton Csokas as Falcon

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:26:00 +0000

Danny Mays, Charmian and Sheridan Smith. Pic: ITV

Mrs Biggs, ITV1
• Sheridan Smith has been cast as Charmian Biggs in ITV1's new five-parter Mrs Biggs, about the wife of train robber Ronnie. Danny Mays will play the lad with a criminal record who wooed her – where else! – on a train. The couple struggled to stay together when her family did not like Biggs, and the tough times continued when Ronnie got involved in 1963's Great Train Robbery. He became a fugitive in Australia with Charmian and their children in tow, before he had to flee to Brazil. Sheridan has been recently been winning awards on the London stage for Legally Blonde and Flare Path, while recently on TV she was in Little Crackers and Gavin and Stacey. She said, 'When I received the call to say that I'd got this job I burst into tears. Charmian is an incredible woman, and I'm so lucky that she'll be on hand to support me and give me advice during the shoot. I hope that I can do her story justice.' An award-winning writer, Jeff Pope (Appropriate Adult, See No Evil: the Moors Murders), has been developing Mrs Biggs for four years.

Falcón, Sky Atlantic
• More casting news – Marton Csokas, best known as Elven Lord Celeborn in Lord of the Rings, will play the title role of Javier Falcón in Sky Atlantic's first two-parter based on Robert Wilson's bestselling detective novels. Two two-parters about the Seville police inspector are in the pipeline, 'The Blind Man of Seville' and 'The Silent and the Damned'. Emilia Fox, Hayley Atwell and Bernard Hill will all appear in the first one. Perhaps Falcón , who is described as 'an innately sexual and charismatic character', can step into the gap left by the sadly axed Zen.

Stephen Mangan and Darren Boyd. Pic: BBC

Dirk Gently, BBC4
• Dirk Gently, aka actor Stephen Mangan, will soon return to holistically solved some more crimes on BBC4. Darren Boyd will be at his side as partner Richard Macduff, along with Helen Baxendale as Macduff's girlfriend Susan. In episode one of this new three-part series, Dirk discovers the connection between two unrelated cases – a client who believes the Pentagon are trying to kill him and another whose horoscopes appear to be coming true.

Sherlock Complete Series 1 & 2 – Blu-ray Review

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:58:00 +0000

Sherlock Complete Series 1 & 2 Blu-ray
Episodes ★★★★★
Extras ★★★★★

Even on a second and third viewing, these episodes of 21st-century Holmes still fizz with wit and invention.

Seeing them again rams home how good the cast and the adaptations are. Benedict Cumberbatch as the 'high-functioning sociopath' is a superb bit of casting, while Martin Freeman's wonderful comic asides and reactions sum up perfectly the audience's response to the consulting detective's outrageous behaviour and capabilities.

Meanwhile, Andrew Scott is creepily off-beat as Moriarty, and it's good to see Rupert Graves (DI Greg Lestrade) playing something other than his usual cads. As for Una Stubbs, she's charming as Mrs Hudson.

So how did Holmes fake his death?
Co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (who's also on-screen as Sherlock's adversary-brother Mycroft) could so easily have got this modern reboot wrong – and it will be interesting to see how Elementary, CBS's copycat idea in the States, fares in comparison. Instead, they have made the transition seem obvious and inspired at the same time.

My favourite episodes are the two series openers written by Moffat, 'A Study in Pink', which set up the whole edgy relationship between Holmes and Watson so cleverly, and 'A Scandal in Bohemia', with Lara Pulver as Irene Adler. But all six 90-minute stories are hugely enjoyable, and included in this boxset.

And, of course, it offers the chance to forensically scrutinise series two's cliffhanger to try to work out how Sherlock faked his own death. Did Molly provide the corpse that plunged off the roof? We never get a good look at the body whose pulse is checked by Watson, so is it Holmes? Did Holmes leap and land on the lorry? Moffat says the clues are there, but they're not conclusive – as far as I can see, anyway.

Sherlock – series 3
The extras included here are first class, including the original pilot episode of 'A Study in Pink', which was redone, prompting rumours at the time that the show was a turkey (how wrong were they?). There are also films called 'Sherlock Uncovered' and 'Unlocking Sherlock – The Making of'.

That will have to keep us occupied until series 3 is shown, which is unlikely to be before 2013.

Tinker Taylor Solider Spy
Episodes ★★★★
Extras ★★★

Benedict Cumberbatch also appears in the stellar British cast for another modern reboot, this time updating John Le Carré's spy thriller, which was originally filmed by the Beeb with Alec Guinness in 1979.

Gary Oldman, who recently missed out on the Best Actor Bafta to Jean Dujardin, is superb as George Smiley, the ex-MI6 agent recalled from retirement because his bosses are in a mess – namely, that they have a highly placed Soviet mole among them.

Mark Strong, Colin Firth and Tom Hardy are also among the rather sad bunch trying to believe in what they are doing for Queen and country, and playing some nasty games as they go. My slight preference is for the original two series, which obviously had more time to explore and depict Smiley's sadness and disillusion.

The extras include an interview with Le Carré and deleted scenes.

• Also out is the new Blu-ray boxset of series one of The Fades, BBC3's gory horror about teenager Paul, who is haunted by apocalyptic dreams and the spirits of the dead. Includes some good extras, such as deleted scenes, out-takes and behind-the-scenes footage.

Boxsets and DVD supplied by BBCShop.com

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Hustle – the final con

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:49:00 +0000

Tonight is the final scam for Mickey Bricks and the gang. The familiar face of former team member Stacie Monroe – aka actress Jaime Murray – is back in the frame for what she calls 'the biggest con they've ever done, the con to end all cons. It’s been five years since I was last on the show and within five minutes they were teasing me as if it was yesterday. They’ve known me since I was 24 and so treat me like a little kid, which I love! Matt Di Angelo is so funny and cheeky, he’s such a clown. He made me giggle the whole time and I told him he looks like a young Jude Law, which he loved!' Since she left, Jaime has been Stateside in shows such as Dexter, Warehouse 13 and Ringer.

As for Adrian 'Mickey Bricks' Lester, he nominates his and Marc Warren's naked dash across Trafalgar as his fave moment from the eight series. He says, 'As Marc Warren said, how many people can say I’ve run through Trafalgar Square naked! And I did it eight times! It's right up there with playing Hamlet. It could only work in a show like this because it was tongue in cheek, entertaining and silly but also poignant. It’s one of my favourite episodes because it had the perfect balance of character, disappointment, desire, jeopardy, fun, skill and clever plotting.

'Another of my favourite sequences is where I had to do the magician’s trick of hiding the pound coin, in Episode 1 series 5. I reached to the floor with nothing in my hands and then made it appear in my palm. Then the pick-pocketing... knocking over the wine, going in for the wallet and removing the credit card with one hand, close and replace the wallet, pocket the credit card and then saying goodbye with the man's car keys under my hat. Those sequences have been among my favourites.'

Will the gang go out in a shower of money, or a hail of bullets?

Hustle is on tonight on BBC1 at 9pm

Awake with Jason Isaacs – Sneak Peek

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:17:00 +0000

Awake is a fantasy crime series premiering on NBC in the States on 1 March. It stars Jason Isaacs as a detective stuck between two realities who ends up leading a double life, and who soon discovers links between the twin worlds he inhabits. Boringly, Jason Isaacs is well-known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, when he has notched up exciting performances in series such as Brotherhood and the Beeb's Case Histories. Happily, Case Histories – based on Kate Atkinson's offbeat crime novels – should return later this year. In the meantime, see what he's been up to Stateside in what looks like an intriguing show…

Law & Order: UK – FINALE OF THE WEEK

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:24:00 +0000

Law & out of order – Sam gets a bit too close to victim Lucy. Pics: ITV

The last series ended with the shooting of Matt Devlin (Jamie Bamber). This Friday series six of Law & Order: UK concludes with another highly charged story (again written by Emila di Girolamo) in which Devlin's replacement, DS Sam Casey (Paul Nicholls) gets a little too involved with the victim of what could be a serial attacker. A police forensics technician is stabbed to death in her home. When the same attacker appears to strike again, the victim survives and is able to identify the man, a taxi driver. Rest assured – Sam's concern for Lucy (Lydia Leonard) involves plenty of fireworks with the prosecution team (Dominic Rowan and Freema Agyeman) and his boss, detective inspector Chandler (Harriet Walter). And despite some of the cops – Ronnie (Bradley Walsh) excepted – acting with a shocking lack of professionalism, there's a fittingly dramatic courtroom face-off to wrap up the series. ITV1, Friday, 17 February, 9pm

Those Who Kill, Laura Bach PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:23:00 +0000

Laura Bach as Katrine Ries Jensen and Jakob Cedergren as Thomas Schaeffer. Pics: ITV

Rating: ★★★½

ITV3, starts Thursday, 23 February, 10pm

Story: Deputy superintendent Katrine Ries Jensen is put in charge of her first big case – the discovery of the body of a Polish prostitute in the woods. She recruits forensic psychiatrist Thomas Schaeffer to assist her, and together they soon discover another four bodies buried nearby…

Comparisons between Those Who Kill and The Killing are inevitable.

They're both Danish, both are dark crime series, and both have a female protagonist. They also both feature actors Lars Mikkelsen (Troels in Killing I) and Carsten Bjørnlund (creepy Major Søgaard in Killing II).

Facing some grisly cases – Katrine and Thomas

But comparisons end there. Those Who Kill consists of six standalone 90-minute mysteries based on a special Copenhagen police unit that targets serial killers. While it doesn't have the depth of The Killing it does have quality, with interesting characters, tension and a pretty decent story.

Inner logic of dissocial individuals
Katrine Ries Jensen is given her first major case by Bisgaard (Mikkelsen), her boss. A corpse, buried six years previously, has been discovered in woods outside of the city. It is the remains of a Polish-born prostitute.

Thomas Schaeffer is a forensic psychiatrist who specialises in discerning the 'inner logic' of 'dissocial individuals'. Katrine disregards Bisgaard's fierce opposition to Schaeffer and brings him in to help her investigation.

They immediately uncover four more female bodies buried in the woods. Schaeffer believes that the killer takes his time, has a fetish for controlling his victims, all of whom are blonde and single – like Katrine.

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Inspector Montalbano NEW SERIES OF THE WEEK

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:46:00 +0000

• BBC Four's Saturday night slot at 9pm, recently the preserve of noirish Scandi dramas such as Borgen and The Killing, lets in some Sicilian sunshine this weekend with a whole 10-part series of Inspector Montalbano. The stories are based on the wonderful novels by Andrea Camilleri and, while dealing with some dirty crimes, are lighter than the northern European fare. Readers will recognise the bungling Catarella, Salvo Montalbano's seaside home and his tricky relationship with Livia – to whom he is occasionally unfaithful to his other love, the wonderful food on offer at Calogero's restaurant. The opening story, 'The Snack Thief', sees detective Montalbano investigating the death of businessman Lapecora, found stabbed in the lift of his apartment. His widow suspects he was killed by a lover, and suggests a young Tunisian woman called Karima. But Karima and her five-year-old son have disappeared. The designer-stubbled Luca Zingaretti has the right blend of wit and seriousness as Montalbano, and the town of Vigata and the neighbouring countryside looks heavenly. Starts: BBC Four, Saturday, 11 February, 9pm

Kidnap and Ransom 2, Trevor Eve PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:47:00 +0000

Armed with his three mobiles – Dominic King (Trevor Eve). Pics: ITV

Rating: ★★★½

ITV1, starts Thursday, 23 February, 9pm

Story: Srinagar, Kashmir. Dominic King is negotiating the release of a British Asian family kidnapped while visiting their son, Mahavir. As the handover is completed, the police turn up unexpectedly and a shoot-out ensues. The kidnappers (Anwar and Leela) get away with Mahavir and in their panic they board a tourist bus, taking all the passengers hostage…

Dealing with homicidal hostage takers is not a barrel of laughs, which makes Trevor Eve the ideal actor to play Dominic King.

He doesn't do light-hearted. There were few giggles in Waking the Dead or Bouquet of Barbed Wire. But when it comes to the furrowed brow and tight lips, Eve is King, so to speak.

Even the trigger-happy police are hard work

His former military man turned hostage negotiator is back in the middle of a mighty mess here. A well-planned operation to free the kidnapped Mehta family goes wrong when the police provoke a shoot-out. The Mehtas' son, Mahavir, is snatched and the kidnappers, Anwar and Leela, hijack a bus containing British, American and German tourists.

Pregnant woman and a hostage with a secret
Making matters worse is the political indifference in London – the Foreign Secretary wants Dominic to step aside and leave negotiations to the trigger-happy Kashmir police.

Writer Michael Crompton, whose inspiration for this three-partner was the 1993 hijacking of a bus in Rio that spiralled out of control, skilfully weaves more drama into the crisis. So there's a pregnant woman among the hostages, intrigue about the kidnappers, the dying father ill with cancer and the eventual discovery that someone on-board is more valuable than the increasingly desperate Anwar realises.

Dominic, whose company, Beddoes King, negotiates for hostages on behalf of insurance firms, is a Sherlock Holmes among negotiators, expert in the science of crisis management and always one step ahead of police and gunmen. He virtually hijacks the crisis and buys more time to talk by exposing police incompetence to the world's media and getting in touch with Amwar via mobile phone.

Helen Baxendale – love interest?
However, he's not such an expert in managing his personal life. His second marriage, to Sophie, is breaking up, his reluctance to return from the trouble spots and support her career being the main reason.

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Homeland, Damian Lewis, Claire Danes PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:55:00 +0000

Brody (Damian Leiws) is damaged by his time in captivity. Pics: C4

Rating: ★★★★

Channel 4 Week starting 18 Feb day and time to be announced

Story: Sgt Nicholas Brody has been released after eight years of captivity in a terrorist cellar in Afghanistan. He arrives home traumatised but to a hero's welcome. However, CIA operative Carrie Mathison is suspicious. She has information that a US prisoner has been 'turned', and despite not having the authority, she wants to keep Brody under surveillance.

Homeland arrives on a wave of good reviews and awards from the US, where it recently picked up best drama at the Golden Globes.

Starring Damian Lewis and Claire Danes, and made by the Emmy-winning executive producers of 24 (Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa), the opening episode certainly succeeds in delivering a thriller with ambiguous characters and intriguing twists.

Danes plays CIA agent Carrie Mathison, a driven woman whose job it is to uncover terrorist plots in the Middle East. As we meet her she is causing an international incident by bribing her way into an Iraqi prison to contact a man who is about to executed.

Damian Lewis and Claire Danes

Subsequently stripped of her role in the field, we next see her 10 months later when she has a desk job. Called into a briefing from her boss, David Estes, Carrie learns that Navy Seals raiding an Al-Qaeda safehouse in Afghanistan have rescued Sergeant Nicholas Brody (Lewis), who has been a prisoner for eight years.

Is Brody a hero or terrorist?
As Brody is welcomed home by a Vice President he can't even name, so long has he been gone, Mathison recalls what her doomed contact Iraq told her – that an American PoW had been 'turned'.

She suspects Brody, but doesn't have the credibility or authority to have him bugged and followed. So is Brody a war hero or is he a traitor who is about to trigger a terrorist attack in the US? Over 12 episodes we should find out, though a second series has already been commissioned.

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Whitechapel series 3 with Rupert Penry-Jones PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:46:00 +0000

Phil Davis, Rupert Penry-Jones and Steve Pemberton. Pics: ITV

Rating ★★★

ITV1, from Monday, 30 January, 9pm

Story: When four people are slaughtered at night at a fortified tailor’s workshop, the East End is gripped with fear and panic at this seemingly impossible and gruesome crime.

Gothic cop show Whitechapel is now haunted by the ghosts of series past, having already featured the most notorious East End killers of Jack the Ripper and the Krays in series one and two.

'So what's this one then?' says the ghoulish amateur criminologist Edward Buchan. 'Dr Crippen?'

No, not Crippen, who did not operate within the sound of Bow Bells. Instead, the series is overstretching its unlikely but previously popular premise by unearthing the little-known Ratcliffe Highway Murders, committed near Wapping 200 years ago.

Steve Pemberton as Buchan

Legendary bogeymen
Putting aside the daftness of detectives who only ever chase copycat killers recreating notorious historical crimes, Whitechapel now throws in everything from Charles Manson to flashes of a man apparently scrambling fly-like on a ceiling to inject some chills and mystery.

While Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis and Steve Pemberton are back holding the fright-fest together, the show's straining to evoke legendary bogeymen with ever more convoluted hysteria in this opening story, the first of three two-part mysteries.

Murder obsessive Buchan – played with relish by Pemberton – is in horror heaven when DI Chandler (Penry-Jones) puts him in charge of the Met's centuries old archive of past cases. The theme of these new stories is that Buchan, Chandler and DS Miles (Davis) can use the historical crimes to solve similar modern-day ones.

'I saw the devil walking in Whitechapel'
So when four people are murdered in a fortress-like tailor's premises, Buchan in the basement of the nick (actually Hornsey Town Hall) recalls the Ratcliffe Highway killings. He can also reel off the inadequacies of the Bow Street Runners and the suicide of suspect John Williams (buried on the junction of Commercial Road and Cannon Street Road with a stake through his heart), while working in theories about modern American killers Charles Manson and Richard Farley.

Rupert Penry-Jones as DI Chandler

Writers Caroline Ip and Ben Court still have fun with the horrid history – autopsies carried out in pubs et cetera – and also try to humanise lonely, fastidious Chandler and Miles, whose wife is ill, but the formula is really giving up the ghost this time.

A prisoner escaping from a sealed cell, the phantom on the ceiling, the instant East End hysteria and talk of devils walking the street. It's too fanciful and confusing to be much more terrifying than a Halloween costume.

Thames Torso Mysteries
The next instalment invokes the Thames Torso Mysteries of 1887-89, and serial killers Mary Ann Cotton, Mary Wilson, the Lonely Hearts Killers, HH Holmes, and even the Marquis de Sade, while story three somehow references the Zodiac Killer, the 1940s US murderer known as The Phantom, Mutsuo Toi…

That's quite enough. Too many crooks have spoiled the shock.

Cast: Rupert Penry-Jones DI Joseph Chandler, Phil Davis DS Ray Miles, Steve Pemberton Edward Buchan, Ben Bishop DC Finley Mansell, Sam Stockman DC Emerson Kent, Claire Rushbrook Dr Llewellyn, Hannah Walters DC Megan Riley

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Luck – Dustin Hoffman PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:43:00 +0000

Rating: ★★★★½

Sky Atlantic, starts Saturday, 18 February, 9pm

It's HBO, written by Deadwood creator David Milch, directed by Michael Mann and stars Dustin Hoffman. This tale of the racetrack and revenge is as close to a dead cert as you can get.

So, is Luck as good as the formbook suggests? While the opener is sprawling and low on action from Hoffman's story as Ace Bernstein, the mover and shaker just released from prison, it is a great-looking episode full of dodgy characters and rich storylines.

It's also superbly cast with characterful actors rather than the buffed human mannequins that fill shows such as CSI and Desperate Housewives. Hoffman and Dennis Farina as his driver/partner Gus have obviously lived a little, while a quartet of desperate gamblers look the part too, led by oxygen-chugging wheelchair-bound Marcus, played by Kevin Dunn.

Nick Nolte and Michael Gambon
There's a stammering agent nicknamed Porky Pig (Richard Kind) and Nick Nolte's white-whiskered Walter, who has got hold of a horse he thinks will be great.

It also looks terrific, filmed at beautiful Santa Anita Park in California, all palm trees and hazy mountain backdrop, which Michael Mann fills with terrific action, pitching the viewer into the middle of races so that the jockeys' butts are right in our face at times.

We meet Ace as he is being picked up by Gus from three years inside, apparently having the rap for some other people. The thread going through episode one is that Gus has been set up with a horse owner's licence as a front to distance Ace from a prized horse, which is part of some kind of revenge Ace is plotting.

Romance, betrayal and power
But there is much else going on as the starting pistol sets multiple plotlines in motion, involving romance, betrayal and power. The broken-down quartet of gamblers have a huge win, but will there be a fallout? Porky Pig, or Joey Rathburn as the character is really called, seems to suspect that Walter has a secret winner. And jockey Goose is distrusted by Ace's trainer Escalante for having a big mouth.

And this is before menacing Michael Gambon even turns up as an adversary of Ace's in later episodes.

Just as The Wire could take a while before viewers got into its groove, Luck is all about half-baked conversations, snippets of chat that bear fruit later on. Audiences will need to stick with it.

People will say Luck is doing for horse racing what Mad Men did for advertising men blah blah, but what is more interesting is that the racing fraternity has given writer-producer David Milch an edgy world to delve into. And it's one he knows about, having been a horse player and thoroughbred owner.

Another drama as well made as this, in which people's lives turn on the result of a horse race, has to be worth a punt.

Cast: Dustin Hoffman Chester 'Ace' Bernstein, Dennis Farina Gus, Nick Nolte Walter Smith, John Ortiz Turo Escalante, Kevin Dunn Marcus, Richard Kind Joey Rathburn

Season 1 Trailer

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Prisoners' Wives – Jonas Armstrong, Emma Rigby PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:11:00 +0000

Polly Walker as sassy Francesca. Pics: BBC

Rating: ★★★★

BBC1, starts Tuesday, 31 January, 9pm

Story: 'I'm your dream ticket,' Steve tells his happy, young pregnant wife, Gemma – just before armed police smash down the front door and take him away on suspicion of murder. Though convinced of his innocence, Gemma is still pitched into a frightening new life as a prisoner's wife…

Where this week's other new crime series Inside Men (see below) is full of tension, thievery and shotguns, Prisoners' Wives has less action and is mainly about relationships under strain. It is an absorbing drama that veers away from plot twists and shocks in favour of believable characters whose lives are freefalling into turmoil.

Steve (Jonas Armstrong) and Gemma (Emma Rigby)

Written and created by Julie Gearey, the six-parter's opening episode introduces us to Gemma, who is young, happily married to Steve and pregnant. Her idyll is shattered along with her front door when heavily tooled up coppers smash into their home and arrest Steve for murder.

Gemma's shame and fear
'I swear, I don't know anything,' Steve tells her on her first visit to see him in prison. But why is Steve, who runs his own business, being held if there is no evidence, and why is there a two-hour gap in his alibi?

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Inside Men starring Steven Mackintosh PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:01:00 +0000

Blag of nerves – honest John (Steven Mackintosh) steps up. Pic: BBC

Rating: ★★★★

BBC1, starts Thursday, 2 February, 9pm

Story: John Coniston manages a highly secure cash counting house. One day he finds himself in the middle of a terrifying, bloody armed robbery. Flash back to nine months earlier and John is confronting two employees he suspects to siphoning off £50,000. They expect boring, playsafe John to call the cops, but John offers them a way out…

Television is so obsessed with whodunits and police procedurals that it usually leaves the heist escapades to the movies.

Inside Men breaks that pattern with a intriguing character study of three guys who, because of their individual problems and insecurities, decide to step out of their comfort zones and risk everything by attempting a £15million robbery.

Steven Mackintosh, Ashley Walters and Warren Brown perfectly manage the haunted looks of the men saying no more Mr Nice Guy. This is a caper without geezers, just three beta males who want to be alpha.

Warren Brown and Kierston Wareing
Mackintosh plays the mouse-like John Coniston, manager of a cash counting house who looks like he's going to be sick every time a fiver goes missing. So desperate is he to maintain his generally unblemished monthly record at the staff bonus party that he replaces a missing £240 from his own wallet.

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Sherlock 2013, more Luther and what about Endeavour?

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:27:00 +0000

• It's no surprise that Sherlock will be back, probably in 2013 owing to the movie commitments of the leads, Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit). The Beeb would surely come under siege if creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss hadn't promised (via Twitter) to reveal how on earth Sherlock defied death after jumping off that building in 'The Reichenbach Fall' last night (provoking furious arguments in my house, at least). The three 90-minute stories have fizzed with humour and ingenuity in updating Holmes, clocking up 8-9million viewers a time, and it would be a crime of Moriarty proportions if the series had been cancelled now.

• CrimeTimePreview has been bombarded with thousands of hits since Endeavour went out on ITV1, with all but one of the comments saying it was terrific. Inevitably, viewers have been saying ITV1 must turn it into a series. I've asked the channel what's happening and they say 'discussions on an editorial and practical level' have to be thrashed out before a decision is announced. But if Scott & Bailey can be recommissioned, surely the Morse prequel is a shoo-in.
• Meanwhile, ITV1 have announced a five-parter called Mrs Biggs, about the wife of train robber Ronnie Biggs. Ironically, Charmian fell for Ronnie as a teenager travelling on a train. Money worries eventually forced Biggs to ask for a loan from an old friend, who turned out to Bruce Reynolds, at that moment planning one of the most famous crimes in British history – the Great Train Robbery of 1963.
• The BBC has decided to do another series of the rather so-so Death in Paradise and rather edgier Luther. With Idris Elba picking up a Golden Globe last night for his screen-filling performance as the crazed detective, Luther's return was only to be expected.
• But no news on Garrow's Law! Come on, BBC. The show doesn't deserve m'lud's noose just yet.

Sons of Anarchy series 4 PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:17:00 +0000

The boys are back in town – Clay and the gang are released. Pics: C5

Rating ★★★★

5USA, from Wednesday, 18 January, 10pm

Story: The gang is released from jail and, despite a warning from the new sheriff, set about reigniting their criminal links with the Russians. In their private lives, however, Clay, Opie and Jax face new challenges and commitments…

5USA is the UK network that is the little-known hangout of some sharp and earthy American shows, such as Justified, Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy.

It's worth venturing down this mean little channel for crime series that are a world away from the usual police procedurals and whodunits (though it has a fair helping of CSIs and NCISs too).

Road rage – the gang with scores to settle

This month 5USA welcomes back the biker opera for another brutal, though well-acted, series. Clay and the imprisoned SAMCRO members (Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original) leave prison after 14 months for weapons charges.

New lawman in Charming
Riding back into Charming they are greeted by the new sheriff in town, or lieutenant anyway, Eli Roosevelt. He gives a warning to the gang, who then immediately reestablish links with the gun-running Russians. Clay also vows to sabotage the mayor's new housing project, Charming Heights.

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Luck starring Dustin Hoffman

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:18:00 +0000

Coming to Sky Atlantic in February is this terrific-looking new HBO series. Luck stars Dustin Hoffman as Chester 'Ace' Bernstein, a gambler just released from a stretch inside who wants revenge against the guys who put him there. It's directed by Michael Mann and also stars Nick Nolte, Michael Gambon and Dennis Farina (who also appeared in Mann's 80s series Crime Show). To top it off, it's written by David Milch, a horse-racing obsessive who also wrote on Hill Street Blues and Deadwood. Sounds a dead cert.

Mad Dogs series 2 PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 10:27:00 +0000

All at sea – Max Beesley, John Simm, Marc Warren and Philip Glenister. Pics: BSKYB

Rating: ★★★★

Sky1, from Thursday, 19 January, 9pm

Story: Woody, Baxter and Rick are about to drive off and leave their mate Quinn in the Majorca villa to continue his life there. Then they spot the partner in crime of Spanish cop Maria arriving, and Baxter applies the brakes to their car…

It's lovely to see the 'four herberts' back on their holiday from hell. Woody, Baxter, Rick and Quinn should know better than to indulge in extreme sports at their age, particularly those involving murder and the theft of £3million in stolen drug money, but happily they're taking to it again like leaping lemmings.

Mad Dogs 2 picks up exactly where the first stopped – with Woody, Rick and Baxter in their car about to flee from the villa of Alvo, the dodgy old 'mate' they'd been visiting who came to a bloody end. Maria, the bent Spanish cop, is still floating in the pool and Quinn is there with her, having shot her.

When the three in the car see Maria's corrupt partner Dominic turning up, they stop, unsure whether to leave Quinn to it or help him. Needless to say, they get dragged back into the madness.

Always looking over their shoulder – Baxter and Rick

Starting over with stolen drug money
Once again it's a pleasure to watch John Simm, Marc Warren, Philip Glenister and Max Beesley at each other's throats. The series was originally made because they wanted a project they could all work together on, and it's easy to see why.

Mad Dogs has fun playing these actors against type. John Simm often portrays miserable, angry types, but here he is meeker and vulnerable. His character even comforts Quinn when he is in shock after shooting the policewoman. Marc Warren is clueless and uncool, and Max Beesley gets the chance to act.

There's an element of the Coen brothers here as the four ordinary Joes are way out of their depth, rushing off to Ibiza with the £3million in drug cash they were going to leave behind, but which Woody has slipped into the boot of their getaway car.

Out-smarting the gangsters?
And like the best Coen brothers films, events unfold with dimwitted, greedy simplicity as the guys, who include a teacher and would-be antiques dealer among their number, try to play in the gangster league. The trouble is, they're about as like mad dogs as Scrappy Doo.

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Law & Order: UK with Paul Nicholls, Bradley Walsh PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:23:00 +0000

Paul Nicholls and Bradley Walsh. Pics: ITV

Rating: ★★★★

ITV1, from Friday, 6 January, 9pm

Story: In a drive-by shooting outside the Old Bailey, DS Matt Devlin is killed and another officer hit by gunfire. It appears to be a targeted attack on a young witness giving evidence in an attempted murder trial. But then DS Sam Casey learns the gunman was targeting police officers.

Paul Nicholls puts in a decent shift as Bradley Walsh's new sidekick as season six gets off to an emotionally charged start following the shooting of Matt Devlin (Jamie Bamber) in the previous series' cliffhanger.

He plays detective sergeant Sam Casey, brought in to help with the investigation into Devlin's shooting outside the Old Bailey in a drive-by killing. Brooks is devastated by seeing his partner shot. He gets off to a rocky start with Casey when the new man tells him not to jeopardise the investigation by interfering when he should be off duty recovering.

Justice league – the Law & Order: UK team

Ronnie Brooks turns 'Robocop'
Streetwise Brooks, of course, ignores the advice and is slammed by his boss, Chandler, for turning 'Robocop'.

Devlin was hit in what was thought to be an attack on a young witness giving evidence in an attempted murder trial. But Casey tracks down a suspect, student Jamal, and it appears he could have been targeting police officers.

The strength of this spin-off from the US series is that the cases are often realistic in their messiness and ambiguity. Here, the defence barrister (Paul Salmon) argues that Jamal is the victim of police racism, a claim helped by Brooks' misguided interference. As Jamal's true motivation becomes apparent, prosecutors Jake and Alesha are not sure they can get him convicted of murder.

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Endeavour with Shaun Evans PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 11:10:00 +0000

Shaun Evans as Endeavour Morse. Pics: ITV

Rating ★★★★½

ITV1, Monday, 2 January, 9pm

Story: 1965. A schoolgirl is missing in Oxford. A young detective constable is drafted in from the anonymous Midlands new town where he is stationed to help with the investigation because he knows the Oxford area. It is a case that will shape Endeavour Morse's life and career.

He only ever used to be known as Morse, the detective finally revealing his christian name after Inspector Morse had been on air for 10 years in 1997. Now as everyone knows, Morse was named after Captain Cook's ship HMS Endeavour and the moniker can be plastered all over this impressive two-hour prequel.

John Thaw

The much-loved original, which ran for 33 episodes from 1987-2000, starred John Thaw as Morse and Kevin Whately as his sidekick, Lewis, setting the standard for UK police procedurals. Thaw died relatively young at 60 in 2002, and while Lewis, of course, is still with us, the temptation to resurrect Morse somehow was too good to let slip away.

Shaun Evans and Roger Allam
This much anticipated new mystery is a scandal on a suitably large scale, involving bent cops, murder and a corrupt government minister. The cast – including Shaun Evans as Morse and Roger Allam as his boss/mentor DI Fred Thursday – are actors who bring depth to the lead roles, and the period setting is understated. And for Morse fans, the hero's background is fleshed out well.

The young Endeavour is called on to assist in an investigation into the disappearance of 15-year-old schoolgirl because he is familiar with Oxford, where he did Greats but didn't finish his degree. DS Arthur Lott makes it clear to Morse and his fellow draftees that they are there to 'take up the slack', do the grunt work, and leave the detecting to him and Thursday.

Morse and Thursday

But Morse immediately stands out as a serious-minded detective with a questioning nature – which sets him at odds with Lott. It is Morse who works out that the missing teenager had a lover who was communicating with her through crosswords in the local paper. 'Codswallop,' says Lott, but Morse is proved right.

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Sherlock series 2 A Scandal in Belgravia PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:02:00 +0000

Meeting his match? Sherlock and Irene Adler. Pics: BBC

Rating ★★★★★

BBC1 from Sunday, 1 January, 8.10pm

Story: Compromising photographs and blackmail threaten the British establishment, while Sherlock begins a duel of wits with an antagonist who will always be THE Woman.

On the evidence of this first case, one can only deduce that if there is a crime drama in 2012 that fizzes with more wit and panache than Sherlock it's going to be one stonking show.

Series two of the Holmes modern reboot was originally due for autumn 2011 but the lengthy filming schedule pushed it back to the first day of the New Year (going out in the US in May), and it is definitely worth the wait.

Lara Pulver as The Woman

Dominating Sherlock's thoughts – Lara Pulver as The Woman

'A Scandal in Belgravia' again cleverly updates the great sleuth, toys with his legend and is brilliantly entertaining. It is sharp, mysterious and sexy. The latter ingredient arrives in the shape of a thoroughly modern Irene Adler – intellectual rival for Sherlock, erotic foil and dominatrix. Phew…

She is played by Lara Pulver, recently seen in True Blood and Spooks, who makes the acquaintance of Holmes in the most eyebrow-raising scene the great man has ever been in. For once, he doesn't know where to look or what to say.

Her trysting with Holmes via text messages, codes, Twitter (pseudonym: The Whip Hand) and in person exposes a new side of the detective. Is he in love? Is he vulnerable to her? As Watson points out, his partner is composing sad music to scratch out on his violin when he is parted from The Woman, as she must be known.

S&M and Holmes's intellectual fetishes
But this being Holmes, snogging and candle-lit dinners are not the norm. It's a lot more high octane and dangerous than that. And it was a clever stroke, so to speak, to have an S&M specialist crossing paths with Sherlock, a man with intellectual fetishes of his own.

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Hustle series 8 PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:47:00 +0000

Smooth operators – the Hustle crew. Pics: BBC

Rating ★★★★

BBC1 from Friday, 6 January, 9pm

Story: Mickey and the gang of con artists target a gold dealer who rips off elderly customers.

Only six more elaborate scams for Mickey Bricks and his flimflam operators before Hustle's loyal fans feel like the ones who've lost something they treasure when they weren't looking. After seven years, writer Tony Jordan is calling time on the show.

There are treats in store in this last series, in particular the return of original cast member Jaime Murray as Stacie Monroe in the final episode for what was the actress calls 'the con to end all cons'. Of the finale, Adrian Lester (Mickey) adds, 'The opening 30 seconds of the last episode… it's ace. You won’t forget it!'

Dodgy geezer – Paterson Joseph with Kelly Adams

Peterson Joseph as the mark
Not that episode one is too shabby. Paterson Joseph turns up as the target, Dexter Gold – real name, Ash reveals, is Dexter Pratt. This 24-carat villain gets by fencing gold stolen by armed gangs and by fiddling pensioners out of their precious golden mementoes.

So the team, eager as ever to bring down the corrupt and greedy, masquerade as a renegade army unit seeking to offload a hooky consignment of looted Libyan gold. A nice sub plot sees the gang barred from Eddie's drinking establishment after one of them defaces his wall photo of hero Ian Rush. Cue cameo from the former Liverpool star himself…

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Tinker, Tailor/Smiley's People DVD boxset

noreply@blogger.com (ROBIN) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:53:00 +0000

DVD: ★★★★
Extras: ★★★★

As you'd expect from a famous old spy tale, appearances are deceptive here. Watch the opening episode of Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy and it seems very dated at first. The pace is slow, the actors old, and the story and settings dingy.

First shown on the Beeb in 1979 (not 1982 as it states on the cover of this set), this dramatisation of John Le Carré's story of betrayal is from an era when TV storytelling was less hectic and youth obsessed, and viewers were credited with some patience.

Alec Guinness
By episode two, the jolt of watching a series from 30 years ago passes and the strengths of this acclaimed production will get their hooks into most viewers. There's the fantastic cast including Sir Alec Guinness in his first major TV role and last great part as traitor hunter George Smiley, along with Ian Richardson, Ian Bannen, Hywel Bennett, Beryl Reid, Joss Acland, Siân Phillips and Patrick Stewart, among others.

Once the characters and intricacies of the story are absorbed, the drama becomes tense and compelling, as Smiley, the cuckold and apparently clapped-out old intelligence man, is recalled from retirement to snare the highly-placed double agent working for KGB.

John Le Carré
Gary Oldman has just done a fine job of playing Smiley in this year's movie version of Tinker, Tailor, but Guinness, who may have been a little on the old side for the role at 65, is still superb behind his large specs. A large chunk of his performance is with his eyes as Smiley is the great listener, carefully weighing the words of the professional liars all around him.

John Le Carré says in one of the excellent special features included here, the BBC documentary The Secret Centre, that he started writing Tinker, Tailor without Smiley in it, but soon realised that the old stager would bring the story alive and give it heart.

Smiley's People
And Guinness certainly injects the drama with emotional depth despite his placid exterior, with the pain of his adulterous wife and his outmoded decency in the face of treachery always clear in his eyes.

Smiley's People, which was shown in 1982 and features Smiley's final confrontation with his brilliant rival Karla, is included in this boxset. Again there's a tremendous line-up of acting talent on display (see below). Like the smoke-filled restaurants and Lada cars on show here, many of these characterful actors are no longer around, but this boxset showcases their wonderful performances in two rich dramas.

Alec Guinness George Smiley, Michael Jayston Peter Guillam, Anthony Bate Oliver Lacon, Bernard Hepton Toby Esterhase, Ian Richardson Bill Haydon, Ian Bannen Jim Prideaux, Hywel Bennett Ricki Tarr, Michael Aldridge Percy Alleline, Terence Rigby Roy Bland, Alexander Knox Control, George Sewell Mendel, Beryl Reid Connie Sachs, Joss Ackland Jerry Westerby, Siân Phillips Ann Smiley, Nigel Stock Roddy Martindale, Patrick Stewart Karla, John Standing Sam Collins, Thorley Walters Tufty Thessinger, Mandy Cuthbert Molly Purcell, Warren Clarke Alwyn, Susan Kodicek Irina.
Smiley's People: with Barry Foster Sir Saul Enderby, Michael Lonsdale Anton Grigoriev, Bill Paterson Lauder Strickland, Mario Adorf Claus Kretschmar, Curd Jürgens General Vladimir, Vladek Sheybal Otto Leipzig, Rosalie Crutchley Mother Felicity, Maureen Lipman Stella Craven, Dudley Sutton Oleg Kirov, Michael Gough Mikhel, Michael Elphick Detective Chief Superintendent

Boxset supplied by BBCShop.com

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