PD JAMES Dalgliesh is a charecter who many know and love. Roy Marsden starred as him in the original series and was a firm national favourite over the course of 10 miniseries that ran for over a decade. Now this trope is familiar. Once you have seen ENDEVOUR and the swagger of Shaun Evans as the young Morse, it is hard not to have not expected a rath of other names facing off in the climbs of the post mid century melase. So Bertie Carvel stars as the younger incarnation of man who is Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh. He is a man of the arts. He has been a published poet. He is also a recent widower and a policeman delving deep into the criminal mind to solve some of the regions most unpleasent crimes. He employs a mix of theories to understand why and what happened. Mixing empathy and insight to explore the human psyche and explaining complex crimes in an England of recession and remaking. Acorn TV have now released the first and second series on DVD for you to enjoy and for us to take a critical look at.

Season one is a mixed bag. If you know the original series, then you can grapple more easier with the whole. Dalgliesh is a multi pronged character that is under played with a rather indifferent frame. It works but I will get to that. If you are a fan of Acorn TV releases, then you certainly know that this is at the higher end of those. Framed as it is, with a few nods to PD JAMES original and also peppered with faces from TV that you will know well, money and time has been spent here. As the credits role of episode 6 (the series is broken into 3 2 parters), you will want to keep going. PD JAMES hooked us with her books and this translates over. There are doubts. I had them with other, better series but you give it time and feel that there is more to explore. I cant say that it isnt well presented, as it is. What I could say is that it is often so seperate in episodes that you could feel detacthed. Season 2 is a mark improvement. More rounded. This is Carvel getting that Dalgliesh is a man of conviction and charm. He also remembers that he needs body. His indifference becomes impassioned. His under playing meters out the bits we need to conect. This was hard to see at the beginning but lands here. It also helps that the first and second episodes are excellent, well written and directed. They are James like and well sculpted. Feeling a lot more assured than the first season and finishing out with style. Some havent liked it as much. They are fools. Its very good and gets better. Its not up there with some of the other returns to the modern masters but it is worth seeking out and watching…