Customer Reviews

The Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Shadow in the North

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"The Shadow in the North" is adapted from the 2nd book in Philip Pulman's "Sally Lockhart Mysteries" series, which cast an intrepid young woman as an unlikely detective in Victorian England. It takes place in 1878, 6 years after "The Ruby in the Smoke". Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper) is now in her early 20s and has gone into business for herself as a financial consultant. Fred Garland (J.J. Feild), meanwhile, is officially in the detective business with Jim Taylor (Matt Smith). An elderly client of Sally's suspects fraud when she loses her savings on a seemingly solid investment, so Sally sets out to determine if there is something sinister behind the Swedish businessman Axel Bellman (Jared Lewis) who walked away from the bankruptcy. A conjurer named Alistair MacKinnon (Julian Rhind-Tutt) insists to Fred and Jim that he is being pursued by a murderer he saw in a vision, who is none other than Mr. Bellman.

This BBC production of "The Shadow in the North" allows for much more intricacy of plot and character development than its predecessor The Ruby in the Smoke, which had to devote most of its time to introducing characters. Sally is reluctant to give up her hard-earned independence so shuns any thought of marriage to Fred Garland, who is obviously in love with her. Glimpses of the popular spiritualist movement and Bram Stoker at the Lyceum Theatre are fun historical references. The "steam gun" at the center of the mysteries was apparently inspired by the real Nordenfelt Gun, a multi-barrel machine gun produced in the 1870s by Thorsten Nordenfelt, whose name resembles the fictional inventor of the steam gun, Arne Nordenfels. Sally is more worldly, confident, and perhaps more stubborn than she was at 16, and overall this mystery is less rushed, more satisfying, and the mix of characters from all walks of life creates a nice balance.

I am sure that this is great but having seen the BBC version versus the PBS version, let me just say that the very critical scene of Fred proposing and her accepting is not in the PBS version. It isn't like you saw anything bad. But you did get to see Fred and Sally having a romantic moment, when she confesses that she didn't realize she is more with him than without. I refuse to buy this version.

"The Shadow in the North" is the second Masterpiece Theater installment of the Sally Lockhart Mysteries, based on the novels by Philip Pullman. Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper from "Mansfield Park") is a very independent, and very unusual, self-employed female living in Victorian England. Sally bills herself as a financial consultant, but she and her photographer boyfriend Fred (JJ Feild from "Northanger Abbey") and their would-be playwright friend Jim are really a private detective agency.

The case begins with two separate threads, a old woman seeking restitution for the bankruptcy of a shipping firm, and a Scottish magician seeking protection from a mysterious man whom he saw commit a murder in a vision. Sally and Fred pursue their respective investigations, only to find them intertwining in the person of an exceedingly ruthless businessman named Axel Bellman. Bellman does not take kindly to being investigated, and will threaten Sally's reputation, her friends, and her life, before making her a shocking offer. The ending of this complicated and hard-boiled mystery features more than one plot twist.

The story is richly populated with a variety of Victorian-era characters, including a wealthy heiress, a woman who conducts surprisingly insightful seances, a seamtress who hides from the light, a mystified patent clerk, and a few dangerous thugs. The narrative is melodramatic and sometimes awkwardly modern, with an ending that would seem contrived were it not for the studious attention paid to the occult aspects of the story.

"The Shadow in the North" is highly recommended as an entertaining and different installment of Masterpiece Mystery.

We saw this on Masterpiece Theatre--or was it Mystery Theatre--whatever. What a nice job they did on bringing the books to television. We bought the books immediately. The family devoured them. As soon as the videos came out, we grabbed them. If you have kids, be sure that you have these in the house. I hope BBC will do all the Sally Lockhart books.

Gotta love Billie Piper and Matt Smith<3 Can't wait to see what other works they have out there!
Please watch.

I have read all the Phillip Pullman novels and this second of a trilogy of TV movie versions is true to the book. I especially like Billie Piper in her role and I was not disappointed.

I watched this on PBS because I enjoyed Billie Piper's acting on Doctor Who and I'm also a fan of BBC mystery shows in general. My overall criticism is that Billie was miscast. She is very talented, but I believe her acting strengths come from her youthful energy and playfulness--her character in this show had neither. I didn't want to see Rose Tyler in a Victorian dress, mind you, but I did want to see her explore another character in depth. I think she fell flat. I really enjoyed the character of Axel, which was acted wonderfully by Jared Lewis, and that is what saved the show from being a one-star affair. I thought the ending was predictable and unlikely. I've only seen this one episode, but if the other 3 are like it then comparing this series to Nancy Drew is accurate. It would be acceptable as an introductory "Mystery 101" class for teenagers.