Customer Reviews

Blue Murder: Set 3

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Blue Murder, Set 3,"debuts on DVD, available on this side of the pond for the first time. The show, a crime drama/police procedural, leavened with some sly humor, and a domestic side, is made by the British firm Independent Television (ITV)and is a ratings hit in the U.K.,where it consistently ranks #1 in its primetime slot.

Caroline Quentin ("Jonathan Creek," "Men Behaving Badly,"), an award-winning actress, plays Detective Chief Inspector Janine Lewis, and reveals that she's got solid dramatic chops, as well as comic ones. She supervises a squad in the contemporary English midlands city of Manchester; but she's also a single mum of four, who finds it equally difficult to supervise goings-on in her own home. Ian Kelsey ("Casualty") plays her handsome lead detective, source of some romantic and professional stress. Nicholas Murchie stands out as Detective Schapp.

The series inevitably will be compared to Helen Mirren's "Prime Suspect," although the mysteries in this series are lighter than, not as powerful as, some in the other series. However, the three new mysteries are set in Manchester, and filmed there: it's a bustling town we don't often get to see. And it's been filmed with a liberal hand, no shortage of cars and people in the streets, bars, police station. The actors have been encouraged to use local accent and slang, which add greatly to the pleasure of the production, and the distributor, Acorn has been kind enough to give us - unadvertised - subtitles, thank goodness.

Episode 1, "Not A Matter of Life and Death," concerns the murder of black footballer Duane Kent, a rising star in the local youth league. Investigation seems to indicate that he led a - puzzling--double life.

Episode 2, "Desperate Measures," concerns Dr. Donald Halliwell, shot dead outside his office while in the midst of a much-publicized malpractice suit. Then a disgruntled intern in his practice turns up missing. Investigation shows irregularities in Halliwell's life, and practice, motives for murder.

Episode 3,"Crisis Management." We learn that DCI Lewis tells strangers-- in this case, a handsome army man met at a pub--that that's what she does. But there's almost immediately a vicious murder on his regiment's base, only a week before its deployment to the Persian Gulf. This episode has some strong character arcs, and traction.

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

"Everywhere you look now
Murder incorporated
Down on your knees
Murder
Everywhere that you turn it's murder
Murder
Everywhere you look there's murder."
Bruce Springsteen


Detective Chief Inspector Janine Lewis is one of those great women characters who is able to run her work family, and her home family with equal distinction. It's a great balance but she is also warm and emotionally available, endearing her to her family at home, and the ones at work. There is good humor in both places, and, at the same time the seriousness of both jobs come through. Janine lives and works in Manchester and her team at work is a an interesting mix of personalities and unique strengths. They work well together and even disagreements are looked at realistically. Janine is looked at as the leader with great respect by her team. In fact the popularity of the show, this is their fifth season, lies in Caroline Quentin's hands as DCI Lewis.

The cast of the British, BBC series is superb and through the five years we get to know each one. Ian Kelsey plays DI Richard Mayne. He is the good looking, best ass in Manchester is his call, man who once was Janine's equal until he left for the South. He is back, divorced, and quite attracted to Janine. Janine's husband left her for a younger woman, and she is available and playful but not quite yet.

Nicolas Murchie is DS Tony Shap. He is a short man and plays to that weakness and is known at times to play a little loose with the rules. He is a good chap and works hard.

Paul Loughran is DS Ian Butchers, a roly poly lad, who loves his job and worships DCI Lewis. He can be counted upon to take on the toughest,most mundane jobs and find information no one else can uncover.

Rhea Bailey plays DC Lisa Goodall, she is new to the team and technically inclined. She wants above all to be one of the team, and DI Mayne has taken her under his wing. She goofs up at times, but is learning the ropes.

This is an entertaining new detective series that will appeal especially to British mystery buffs. The episodes, 4 in each DVD, are expertly written, directed and acted. The city of Manchester in the UK looks alive and welcoming in this series. The crimes are as they would be in any large city, murder sweeps the streets, and it is up to DCI Lewis and her team to solve them. And, as is not true in real life, each murder is solved, with twists and turns that are unexpected. This is a series that will captivate you. It is essentially about families, the relationships of families at work and at home. The tensions and stress we all live and feel, and the good times are shared. They are shared with us, the viewing family.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 09-21-08

Just a Minute 2 (BBC Radio)

All or Nothing at All

I will eventually buy all sets of this series. I really enjoy British mysteries although sometimes I have to listen very closely because they have a slang just as we Americans do and I do not always understand their meaning until I watch it again.

Set Three of this quirky British crime drama anchored by Caroline Quentin was so eagerly awaited, I purchased it sight unseen. It was great to be reunited with DCI Lewis' Greater Manchester priority homicide squad: dishy DI Richard Mayne (Ian Kelsey), with whom Janine shared a steamy nocturnal kiss at the end of last season; resident comedy duo Shap and Butchers, the yin and yang of detective sargeants, and young junior detective Lisa Goodall, played by Rhea Bailey. I was happy to see everyone again, but rather disappointed in the storylines this outing, which fail to hit the very high mark set by last season, the finale episode "Steady Eddie" in particular. These are forgettable at best, though an episode focusing on murder on a military base does remind viewers this side of the Pond that there are other countries involved in the Iraqi conflict. A bigger disappointment still is that there are only three measly episodes in this set, compared with 6 in the first season and 4 in the second. An entertaining behind-the-scenes featurette is good fun and shows us that this cast gets along as well behind the camera as they do in front of it, but it doesn't make up for an entire episode. British series tend to make up for in quality what they lack in quantity, but three episodes is thin by any standard, for the price. After getting hooked on this and other quality British crime dramas, it's hard to be satisfied with "Law & Order" . . .but we need more! The endless revolving door of nannies and the child actors playing Janine's children can make it confusing to keep up with the domestic side of Janine's existence, but her work 'family' keeps her grounded in her particular brand of frazzled reality.

STEADY EDDIE - This episode starts the third series of Blue Murder. First the old grouchy DCS has retired or been retired and replaced by a woman who is a lot more dynamic and really gets involved in some high-profile cases. This case does not deal with a real social problem but with a real personal problem involving a very well regarded copper, his wife and his son who is a copper too, plus the commanding officer of this son. We get two lines of investigation about two cases but they are connected of course and it is your mission to go discover how and why. It is well done and well constructed. The reputation of a copper and of the police is at stake and is properly defended, though the unethical conduct cost the life of several innocent people, including an unborn baby. The outcome is definitely not what we were expecting and that's good. MAKE BELIEVE - This second episode of the third series is amazingly psychological and it approaches the psychology of several offenders but also the coppers themselves and some people in the public with a ton of causticity, the causticity it deserves. We have a case involving the death of a young child and the abduction of another, of course connected. That's the pattern of this series, so we know they are from the very start. It is interesting to approach the psychology of all the people concerned and directly or indirectly involved in the case. The coppers themselves have their problems with the Detective Chief Inspector who might have been in love and might have had an affair with or at least a crush on her direct subordinate is getting jealous because this subordinate dares have a liaison with the public relation officer that is attached to the team because of the very sensitive case they are on. It's funny to see middle aged adults behaving like children. Once again the episode does all it can to entangle the threads so that we cannot guess the end before the end. So go enjoy that episode to discover that end. THE SPARTACUS THING - The gadget in this particular episode is that all members of a family except one confess to a crime, all of them with no alibi and with the same motive, to avenge their dead sister, aunt, or whatever killed by her husband some one year and a half before and leniently convicted and sentenced by the judge who tried him because the wife had been an alcoholic who had willfully killed his dog in the most provocative way. The police case is not put upside down that much by the trick though, but it is too intricately psychological especially with several alcoholics in the band. But it is fun to calculate how long the ambulance takes to arrive on the scene of a near suicide where they are urgently needed. There must be a waiting list on ambulances I guess. Murders that are only the result of twisted family loyalty when these loyalties get broken and perverted by alcohol, illegitimate love affairs and illegitimate children, and all you can imagine. But it is fun to see the back side of public houses of alcoholic inebriation and intoxication known as pubs and their dealers the publicans. IN DEEP - This episode is all about bullying. The DCI's younger son gets bullied at school. The male nanny, by the accent an au pair foreign probably European young man, takes over at one point and makes the child break his promise to be satisfied with an apology and take some good old punching back payment from the two bullies. The police case is just that twenty years later. A band of students have a fishing club and one is weaker, so he is victimized by the others till he decides to take his vengeance, instead of leaving the group at the time of the bullying (quite a weak point about this plot: why in the world did he stick to that group?) and he becomes a serial killer who is one-minded and determined. The case can only be a deep psychological profiling investigation, unluckily our DCI is not too much of a profiler so the case is kind of messy and they save the last bully of the fishing group by the scruff of the neck of a lucky strike. But that's the end of the third series. They will take some laborious and active vacation and review their profiling manual for next year.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

Why are the British so good at these murder mysteries? You will want the entire set.

When it comes to murder, the British seem to do it best. I had never heard of this series and bought it hoping for something good. My hopes came true, it's a very well done series, although it seems to leave holes in the underlying family story, sort of skips. But the murders are good, you don't always know who-done-it and there are a lot of twists. It's an intelligent series and I hope there are more than 3 sets. I liked the main character so much, that I really want to know what happens to her and will she ever get some romance in her life.

I have been following this series on DVD since the first one and I find myself eagerly awaiting the next season. So far, I have never been disappointed. The mysteries are fun but the main attraction are the detectives. It is a wonderful team, with the fabulous Caroline Quentin and Ian Kelsey at the top. The rest of the team is quite delightful but it is the unrequited sexual attraction between the two top detectives that keep the interest in the show. Adding to the mysteries are glimpses into Janine's(Quentin) rather full homelife, a single mother with 4 growing children. Things are often a bit chaotic and out of control, but it is so true to all our lives.
I love this show---I hope the series lasts for years to come.

This is such a good series--hope it goes on for a long time. 3rd is a must if you loved 1 and 2.

We purchased Seasons 3 & 4 of Blue Murder based upon our experience with Seasons 1 & 2 and the actors/characters which are rather interesting. Season 3 is a complete rip-off!!! Only 3 stories on 2 DVD's!!! A complete rip off!!! The stories were OK in themselves but the 2nd DVD which contained 1-story and a documentary on behind the scenes trivia was a complete rip-off as far as I'm concerned. Season 4 is the last edition (to include this fiasco) we shall purchase. For how expensive these British mysteries are you'd think they actually would give the viewer an actual story/mystery to watch.