Product Details

• Actors: Caroline Quentin, Ian Kelsey
• Directors: Assorted
• Format: NTSC, Widescreen
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 9
• Studio: ACORN MEDIA
• DVD Release Date: November 10, 2009
• Run Time: 1166 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B002PAD2IU
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,975 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Substantial, Though Lighter Series, That Gets Better and Better, December 31, 2009

By 

Stephanie DePue (Carolina Beach, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blue Murder Collection, Sets 1-4 (DVD)

"Blue Murder: Sets 1-4," now comes to us as a nice fat box set. The Blue Murder pilot debuted in the U.K. in May 2003, on ITV (Independent Television Stations); where it drew almost 8.4 million viewers, a number seldom heard of there. The series, which was created by midlands author Cath Staincliffe, has continued to do very well in the U.K., consistently ranking number one in its time slot. It has, unfortunately for us, never aired on broadcast TV here: the "San Francisco Chronicle" calls it "The best British mystery you haven't seen...." So, luckily, we can at least get it on DVD. Even more luckily, Acorn Media has given us subtitles, as this production is located in Manchester. And the performers have been encouraged to trot out their local patois. Which, while the Manchester accent and usage fall interestingly on the ear, giving us pleasurable local flavor, we're not all that familiar with them this side of the pond.

To begin with Manchester, it sure has cleaned up very well: centuries of black industrial grime gone, revealing a beautiful city, with interesting, varied architecture. And a diverse, varied population: the M.E. in the current series is surely a descendant of the Indian subcontinent.

The series stars the talented, award-winning actress Caroline Quentin, who was once best known as a comic actor (Jonathan Creek - Season One; Men Behaving Badly - The Complete Collection (The Original British TV Series); Life Begins - Series 1; as Detective Constable Inspector Janine Lewis, a hard-driving, high-profile contemporary detective and single mother of four, who must always try to balance the demands of family, where she's just "Mum," and career, where she's "Boss." In her job, she faces drive-by shootings, abducted children, and police corruption; at home, the, praises be, no longer all that young, nor all that slim, detective interviews nanny candidates, and attempts to comfort her bullied young son. In this substantial entertainment, Quentin shows solid dramatic chops, as well as her comedic gifts. Ian Kelsey (CASUALTY - Series 1 (BBC Series) [NON-USA Format / Import / Region 2 / PAL]) costars as Detective Inspector Richard Mayne, Janine's second in command, and erstwhile romantic interest - though in that regard, he seems to be getting a bit doughy of face to me. Among the station house company, Nicholas Murchie stands out as Detective Sergeant Tony Schap, and seems to be enjoying beefed up roles as the series progresses.

Inevitably, the show will be compared to Helen Mirren's Prime Suspect 1, although the mysteries in this series are lighter than, not as powerful as, some in the other. Mind you, Quentin doesn't play Janine Lewis as another Jane Tennyson, Helen Mirren's tough female cop; but, then, she's not intended to: she'll never be as slim, or as long-legged as Mirren. However, the series was created, and the first episodes written, by Cath Staincliffe, who has said she's particularly interested in the problems of women, single mothers, trying to be good mothers to demanding families while holding down demanding jobs. Staincliffe is a Northern/Midlands British girl, through and through: she was born in Bradford, graduated from Birmingham University, and, as a graduate, moved to Manchester to start a job. She has published several mysteries, including a series about another Manchester single mum/private investigator. Her work has been nominated for awards, and is highly praised by her hometown critics. Val McDermid, Manchester's reigning crime queen, said, Staincliffe "has her finger on the pulse of her city and that rare ability to write about love motherhood and friendship without sentimentality, a must," in "The Manchester Evening News." Another local reviewer said her work was "compassionate, exciting, and down-to-earth. Infused, also with that rare and precious ingredient: true feeling." "The Yorkshire Post" said her [Staincliffe's] work was "warm, compassionate and engrossing." So; down to earth, and without sentimentality, are always necessities in the industrial midlands, and the show is very popular with its homies, surely a good sign.

Furthermore, the production has been filmed with a liberal hand, no shortage of cars and people around. The dramas are flavorful and engrossing, the mysteries gritty and challenging, frequently told from the female point of view. The cop shop scenes are lively, leavened with sly humor, and interspersed with Janine's family business. In fact, as everybody grows into their parts, I'm just getting to like this series better and better.

If you like a substantial, but lighter, female-headed, female-oriented mystery, with a domestic angle, and a sly streak of comedy, check it out.