The Mallorca Files

The premise is a British and a German detectives are assigned to work under the National Police in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The locations are all over the island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean, where everywhere you look it's a picture postcard. It's a light police procedural and the two leads Elyn Rhys and Julian Loomans have good chemistry. It's setting in Spain adds to the variety and quirkiness of some of the episodes. It originally aired in 2019 with 10 episodes and a second season appeared in 2021. Hope it stays around for more seasons.

Anyone who takes this series seriously, needs to get a life or a humor or both! Yes, it's full of cop show cliches including a crabby Mallorcan Chief of Police (why are they always crabby) and the crimes are more humorous than shocking, which all adds up to quirky, sometimes silly but always entertaining lighthearted fun. Enough serious, "noir" psychological thrillers that are usually so dark they are depressing or have so much gore, they're disgusting. Just sit back, relax and enjoy this one.

As others have noticed, this series makes no sense. Why would a british cop be assigned to work with a german cop solving crimes in spain, when it is quite obvious that neither actually speaks more than tourist spanish? And in addition the political backdrop of brexit makes it even more incredible.

The first few episodes are also quite painful. The female lead is certainly suffering from sunburn and all the acting is a bit wooden. But it gets better. And once it gets into its stride it is good fun. No violence. Light comedy. Light romance. Reasonably well handled intrigues. it is easy viewing without being too cliched. Admittedly this is because the entire scenario is so far-fetched, but hey - I enjoyed it.

It takes a few episodes to find it feet, but it gets there by the end. The two main characters have great chemistry, and you can watch them grow towards each other as the show progress, but don't let it happen too quickly..

Series 2 is already in the can, i think? Let's hope the plots are are bit more thought out, and the script could be sharper.. This show should be prime time, no idea why it's on in the afternoon? ..

Ps the scenery just makes me want to drop everything and go explore the island right now.

I was less than impressed with the first episode. Of course it combines a number of story/plot cliches, so very much a "been there, done that" vibe. On the whole, that's not a problem for me as I enjoy a mix of heavier and lighter shows/movies. It just seemed like they were trying too hard to make it work at first.

Because some series that have ended up as favorites have had iffy starts, I decided to give it a chance. It will never be in my top 10, but as it found it's pace and rhythm, I began to enjoy it. The characters and story arcs are pretty predictable, but it's not trying to be anything other than what it is.

Certainly the scenery is great and it's a light, enjoyable show.