The Inspector Lynley Mysteries – A Great Deliverance +
Sets 1 and 2 +
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C/D/C Telefilms: B
Yes, its another show with a male/female pairing that has
friction, but The Inspector Lynley Mysteries does this better than most
shows we have seen in recent years, offering real and palpable friction between
the title character (Nathaniel Parker) and Sgt. Barbara Havers (Sharon Small),
who know each other and re not happy to be paired together. However, they are both exceptional in what
they do and the brutality of the murders they have to solve have them doing
their best to put their differences aside and get to work.
That is a great way to describe these well-done British TV
movies, issued by WGBH Boston Video in two sets, and a two-part single
tale. Author Elizabeth George’s world
is brought to vivid life in a series that is exceptionally cast, acted, written
and directed with a pace that never lets up and may remind some of the old
shows that rotated on The NBC Mystery Movie from the early 1970s. The titles are as follows:
1) A Great
Deliverance (two-part single release)
2) Playing
For The Ashes
3) In The
Presence Of The Enemy
4) A
Suitable Vengeance
5) Deception
On His Mind
6) Well-Schooled
In Murder
7) Payment
In Blood
8) For The
Sake Of Elena
9) Missing
Joseph
Their relationship is never oversimplified and any changes
or resolutions are not watered down to “well, they were going to get together
anyhow” because the show is much smarter than that. This includes using things like politics and the personal side of
persons lives in non-exploitive ways to forward the narrative and especially
the mystery aspect that this show does better than just about any other of its
kind set in the modern day. It’s not
just a simple crossword-puzzle mentality that destroyed Mystery genre
storytelling since the early 1980s, when such production began to get lazy and
go into decline, but of a fully realized worlds that is realistic without
hitting the audience over the head with “that’s reality man” shortcuts that
account for so many bad TV and feature film dramas today.
Those who think any kind of Mystery storytelling without a
serial killer on the loose is old fuddy duddy television is not up to speed on
shows like this. Parker is great as
Lynley, and Small is a great counterbalance to him, even outside of very
authentic-feeling conflict and disagreement.
The chemistry between them is not the silly, dysfunctional craziness of Moonlighting,
as they are both seriously good professionals.
Instead, it is about the conflict between their human natures, their
job, their personal lives and what common denominators are between them; many
of which they are not even going to being to examine because they are too busy
doing their job. That is a situation we
have not run into in the genre before, particularly because the female half has
never been presented as certainly able-bodied in such a situation. That alone makes The Inspector Lynley
Mysteries a key genre work, but the high standards of production may make
it a classic.
The 16 X 9/1.78 X 1 image in all cases is only
letterboxed, which is a shame, because the way these shows are shot is not as
plastic or predictable as most shows in the genre. This is good-looking, but has detail limits, though color is
consistent enough. The Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo has Pro Logic surrounds in all cases, sounding clearer and cleaner
as the shows go on. Extras are few
nothing in the first set, while the follow-ups offer text on the stars briefly
discussing the show, cast filmographies, virtual tour of the Mystery!
studios, author Elizabeth George bibliography, and various weblinks and other
suggested materials. We recommend all
the shows to date, but be sure you watch them in the original broadcast order,
or you will be cheating yourself out of some great British television.
- Nicholas Sheffo
