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DVD REVIEW: Pie in the Sky: Series 2 – A Mystery Doesn’t Have to be About Murder to Entertain!

Posted by   on February 23, 2010

in DVD,DVD Reviews

PIESKY_SERIES2

The ten episodes that comprise Series [season] Two of Pie in the Sky originally aired in the winter of 1995. Such is the show’s writing, direction and acting that it remains as entertaining now as it was then. The series stars Richard Griffiths [best know as Harry Potter’s Uncle Vernon] as Henry Crabbe; a semi-retired detective inspector who has opened a restaurant [in his wife’s name for legal reasons] called Pie in the Sky.

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DVD REVIEW: A Mind to Kill – CSI’s Ancestor and Just as Intriguing!

Posted by   on February 23, 2010

in DVD,DVD Reviews

MINDTOKILL_S1

Half-a-dozen years, or so, before CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premiered, a little Welsh series called A Mind to Kill presented us with Detective Inspector Noah Bain [Philip Madoc], a Welsh cop who headed a team that used a combination of cutting edge forensics technology and his own unique thought processes and instincts to solve murders.

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TVonDVD: Callan – Set 2: British Cold War Spy Series is Chilling!

Posted by   on January 22, 2010

in DVD,DVD Reviews

Beginning in 1967, Callan, starring Edward Woodward – best known for The Equalizer and the original The Wicker Man – portrayed David Callan on a spy series that was as dark as the Cold War.

Callan, Set 2

Callan was, as he puts it, “a sergeant who was promoted to private,” before he was forced out of the army and into The Section – a unique little British intelligence organization that was frequently at cross purposes with the police and other intelligence agencies.

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TVonDVD: Life On Mars: Series 2 – Coma Boy, Time Traveller or Nutter?

Posted by   on November 24, 2009

in DVD

LifeOnMars_S2

When Manchester Detective Chief Inspector Sam Tyler [John Simm] woke up after being struck by a car in 2006, he found himself in the Manchester of 1973, newly assigned to that year’s version of his old station – and bumped down in rank to Detective Inspector. Worse, in the old school world of 1973, his boss was DCI Gene Hunt [Philip Glenister], a cop who used violence and intimidation as often as not in his investigations. Tyler concluded there were three possible explanations for his situation: he was in a coma and dreaming the whole thing; he had actually traveled back to 1973, or had gone mad.

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TVonDVD – Murdoch Mysteries: Season One – British Cozy Meets Forensics in Canada!

Posted by   on November 24, 2009 · 1 comment

in DVD

MurdochMysteries_S1

Based on a series of novels by Maureen Jennings, the Canadian Murdoch Mysteries is a delightful mix of several types of classic styles – the British cozy, Sherlock Holmes and forensics shows like CSI. Set in Victorian era Toronto, the series mixes historical fact with dramatic – and occasionally, whimsical – fiction. The series, which follows on the heels of a number of made for TV movies that starred Peter Outerbridge as Murdoch, is a good lighter in tone and brighter in presentation, though every bit as absorbing.

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DVD REVIEW: Trial & Retribution, Set 3 – Linda La Plante’s Other Great Series!

Posted by   on October 20, 2009

in DVD

It comes to me as no surprise that Linda La Plante’s Trail & retribution is a quality series. After all, this is the woman who created Prime Suspect. This collection of six episodes of Trail & Retribution feature David Haymer as Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Walker, Victoria Smurfit as Detective Inspector Roisin Conner, and Dorian Lough as Detective Sergeant David Satchell [until 2006, it appeared as an annual two-part mystery. Now it usually airs five two part stories].

Trial Retribution_S3

The six eps compose three mysteries: The Lovers, Sins of the Father and Closure. The Lovers concerns the disappearance of newlywed Mark Harrington after he goes to fetch coffee for himself and his bride, Susan [Miriam Heard]. Sins of the Father is about the investigation of the death of honors student Emily Harrogate [Carey Mulligan] – and how it reveals the problems of a “happy family.” Closure finds the team dealing with a serial killer – one of whose murders was investigated by a much younger DI Mike Walker.

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DVD REVIEW: Murphy’s Law: Series 1 – An Undercover Cop of a Different Kind!

Posted by   on October 13, 2009

in DVD

With all the attention being given to police and military undercover series [NCIS: Los Angeles and Dark blue among them], it’s refreshing to see the British series Murphy’s Law getting a DVD release in North America.

Murphy's Law S1

It’s plain from the opening moments of the first series’ [season’s] first ep, Murphy’s Law, that transplanted Irish cop Tommy Murphy [the excellent James Nesbitt, who headlined the recent Jekyll series] is long on charm, impertinence and pain. When his supervisors give Tommy a chance to get his very negative psych evaluation torn up, he is given the assignment of infiltrating a gang of diamond thieves led by the equally wonky [psychiatrically speaking] Terry. In a perfect example of inter-departmental co-operation, Tommy finds himself in the most peculiar of situations.

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