Customer Reviews

A Mind to Kill: Series Two

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Graphic thriller + engaging suspense, makes DCI Noel Bain (Philip Madoc,"The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes" & the Jack Nicholson of Wales) a top copper in murder investigation. You'll turn away at some of the blood and violence but never turn off the TV until the gripping conclusion reveals the who, what, how, when and why of each dastardly act. 7 episodes average 94 minutes (feature length, it's like buying 7 movies) with the honest box warning: "Contains nudity and graphic scenes." True, to extreme! "A MIND TO KILL: SERIES 2" is abundant violence, nudity, blood, foul language, and other derelictions that exist alongside killings; perhaps not as much as series 1. NOT FOR KIDS or the squeamish! Perhaps this warning alone will help you decide yes-or-no on this unrated Welsh detective drama. Just being honest and, hopefully, helpful. I mean to be helpful in both buy & avoid. If you liked Series One, you'll love the longer Series 2.

Now, details for the strong-of-heart.
You get morgue bodies cruelly and brutally put to death, & described by Prof Edwards (Sharon Morgan), in case you miss visual details. Crimes of complex plots often parallel a sub-plot which then criss-cross, keeping the story moving and bloody. Bain is a specialist, directed to the most difficult, heinous, and evil of crimes.
Widower Bain is tender too, to daughter, Hannah (Ffion Wilkins) who provides her own subplot in 4 episodes. Wales filming offers some grand views but more often the setting is remote or dark, due to the sinister and realistic low-life. But again, some higher class citizens break laws. Murder is not just for the poor. Some scenes graphic, short nudity.

Series 2 has just a small regular cast but the final 2 episodes take advantage of guest stars. DS Alison (Gillian Elisa), DS Carwyn (Geraint Lewis), & Supt Bevan (Michael Povey) are in most episodes. Bonus: SUBTITLES, cast filmographies and 7 minutes of Episode 4 in Welsh language (Why?,a few seconds was enough.)

Now for the bloody episode details,
1 BLOODLINE--2 suicides? A pact? There's more to be found, including another body. Much more disturbing activity in this family saga. And then cute daughter, Hannah, too!

2 DEATH WATCH--A charred body is found where vigilante locals mock justice. This road to murder is ugly-a typical case for Bain. Takes place in Pengwern (not to be confused with the fun comedy drama series 'Doc Martin' of Portwenn.)

3 GAME PLAN--A delightful seaside resort and Bain goes undercover to find hard evidence. Daughter Hannah pops up also. it's a bit of a Welsh spring break, including drinking nude bathers.

4 HEAD OF THE VALLEYS--Wealth & power on the wrong side of the law. An old corpse leads to an ongoing crime dynasty not opposed to bloody, ruthless, tactics. Even crime families have relationship problems and skeletons in the closet.

5 INHERITANCE--Business capitalists vs environmentalists in a small village in Wales--and not all is well. Violent deaths come in a series bringing Bain to investigate and into the conflict's center. Includes bodies in the buff-not for kids. Insanity rules. Darkly psychotic. Shiveringly my lease favorite.

6 STRANGE TERRITORY--A Celtic burial ground gains a teenage body. Bain finds both a boyfriend & a psychic to be suspect while family of the victim moves toward their own dark version of justice. Hannah gets a bit frisky with her beau. Ioan Gruffudd ('Amazing Grace', 'Horatio Hornblower') stars as boyfriend Karl.

7 GREEN WOUNDS--Really good, less blood but accelerated suspense! Bain has continuing nightmares of his wife's death 12 yr. ago via a drunk driver. Seeking revenge he takes a leave from cop work and stalks the man at the same time Hannah is being stalked by an ex-con. Paul Tam (Richard Harrington-'Bleak House','Holby Blue') is Hannah's stalking con. The drunk driver from the past is played by David Warner ('Titanic','Sweeney Todd'); and his wife by Carol Drinkwater ('All Creatures Great and Small').

Ranks up there with "Midsomer Murders"; those Brits know how to do crime mystery.

"A Mind to Kill, Series 2" is a British mystery, more particularly a television series, a police procedural made and set in Wales. It is actually available in Welsh, and in English, was made by the evidently Welsh firm of Lluniau Lliw Cyf for BBC Wales, and was broadcast in the U.K. for five series in the mid- 1990's. It was nominated for five Welsh BAFTA awards, including one for best actor for star Philip Madoc (The Last of the Mohicans: Director's Definitive Cut [Blu-ray]; Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius (Story 84)). The American release, which I have, consists of seven episodes on four disks, running approximately 644 minutes, and a clip from Episode 4 of Yr Heliwar, the Welsh-language version of the series. It also, thank goodness, includes subtitles; the Welsh accent sounds musical to the ear, but is not so easy for some of us to understand.

The series is set in Wales, but not the Wales of the tourist brochures; this, suitably enough, is dark and rainy country, as its mysteries deal with dark, and some might feel, rancid material. It contains nudity and scenes of graphic violence, just as a word to the wise. The series has been compared to others, such as Inspector Morse - Complete Collection], or [[ASIN:B001JXPC4Q Cracker: The Complete Collection, that are better-known, perhaps, and beloved, for the brooding central character who must tackle modern crimes. As is frequently the case with British TV series, there's been no apparent stinting on the location filming, extras, cars, interiors, etc. Madoc plays Detective Chief Inspector Noel Bain as a middle-aged, workaholic widower concerned with solving crimes, also with the welfare of his daughter Hannah. He's surrounded by some solid supporting actors playing the bunch at the cop shop, and the usual suspects in the episodes. Guest stars in these feature length mysteries include Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four (Widescreen Edition)), Richard Harrington (Bleak House), David Warner (Titanic), and Carol Drinkwater (All Creatures Great & Small: The Complete Collection.

They are:
1. Bloodline. The discovery of the bodies of the Pemberton brothers, Lewis and Daffyd, causes Bain to wonder whether they have killed themselves in a suicide pact. However, the finding of the body of their half-sister Catrin throws a different light on things. A family saga of blackmail, abuse, and revenge.
2. Deathwatch. The finding of charred human remains inside a burnt-out car calls Bain to a town where vigilante justice rules and the locals disrespect the law.
3. Game Plan. Most unwillingly, Bain is forced to go undercover at a seedy seaside resort, to investigate the murder of a pretty young woman. Then Bain's daughter Hannah shows up, on vacation, and greatly complicates things.
4. Head of the Valleys. A five-year old corpse is found beneath a parking lot. Suspicion seems to point to a local crime family with a ruthless matriarch. Lady MacBeth rides again.
5. Inheritance. A wooded sanctuary in a small rural village becomes a battleground between big business and local environmentalists. Bain must investigate a string of violent killings in a tense environment. This environmentalists-big business conflict seems to have been a popular theme of the 1990s.
6. Strange Territory. A smart and pretty teenager is found dead in a local Celtic burial ground. The top suspects are her scorned boyfriend, and a local psychic. The victim's family decides to take justice into their own hands. A tour of some of the least wholesome aspects of family life.
7. Green Wounds. The Rollins case of aa fatal traffic accident brings up Bain's nightmares of the death of his wife in another fatal traffic accident twelve years previously. It also causes Bain to revisit the Tam case, seen in Series 1. This episode is activated by three interlocking revenge plots, one of which threatens Bain's daughter Hannah. Guest star is David Warner, playing a major, demanding role as Dave Caulfield, who accidentally killed Bain's wife. Of course, David Warner is surely among the best-known, most talented, living elders of Welsh actors, and I was happy to see him working here.

Revenge seems to show up surprisingly often as a motive in these tales. The series also seems to project a point of view: that justice is frequently not seen to be done in the United Kingdom today, thereby causing a diminution of respect for the law. In addition, the mysteries are tense and absorbing; plots are intricate and memorable, and characters strongly drawn. Lots of atmosphere and ambiance, gritty realism. This series, with its convincing Welsh settings and ambiance, is a rare bird indeed, which, coupled with its high quality, should please most lovers of British mysteries.