Dalgliesh

Didn't enjoy the Roy Marsden version but really enjoyed this. Great acting, loving the 70s cars and clothes hope there is a 2nd series, ignore all the Lampards on here its great.

Nearly as good as Vera.

I should disclose that I watched the Roy Marsden Dalgliesh years ago and felt it to be fabulous and worthy of P. D. James' novels. That entire series was superlative; tender, thoughtful and often rather spooky. When I saw the ads for this new series, I couldn't imagine it would be good. The first two episodes were mediocre. Above average compared to American procedurals but nothing particularly special. I nearly skipped the third episode. Praise be that I turned it on. It is wonderful. I think from seeing it I can critique retrospectively what ails the first two episodes. Tone. P. D. James has a voice in her novels that the original series was able to translate to the screen. It is restrained but under the restraint lies both a mounting tension and an overwhelming reflection of sorrow, encapsulated and reflected to us by Dalgliesh himself. Bertie Carvel captured that perfectly in the third episode. I was touched.

This is like Bertie Carvel was born to this character. He brings the depth and tormented soul of a poet while being amazingly observant of human behavior and detail around the crime.

The writing and dialogs are also much more crisp. The pace is better as they have not included too many irrelevant scenes. Just enough to move the plot forward and keep the viewer engaged.

The supporting actors are also superb and perfect for the roles.

It is a great service to PD James novels to bring such amazing work to the small screen.

Looking forward to many seasons of this brilliant series by Acorn

i must say in the last year Acorn has finally surpassed Britbox in content quality.

Love this mystery show. I've never watched the previous iteration or read the books, but I feel that this show follows the feel, spirit, grit, and the time period of the source material. The British and PBS, etc. Are always great at this. Carvel...fantastic..as Dagliesh and as both of his side kicks mention he makes for a great detective and mentor.

But, for me, this show suffers from two issues:

1. It is so dark (visually)!! Seems like they've filmed all the episodes in the middle of a British winter. I live in Santa Fe, NM, (super high altitude sunshine), and I literally have to close all my curtains so I can see what's going on. It was very noticeable in this current episode (a couple of murders in a seminary/church/boys school). In one scene, a protagonist runs by some daffodils. They are so bright they look like they are fake. When the flowers are brought in, they seem to glow, and the entire background fades into grey/black.

2. Dagliesh is so deadpan!!! If there were a drinking game about taking a shot any time anyone in this show smiled or laughed, the bottle would never crack open. OK, so this show is not a funny, laugh-a-minute procedural a la "Murder in Paradise," or "Harry Wild," or "Shakespeare and Hathaway," but even the darker show, "Vera," has a handful of laughs and smiles per episode.

I wasn't convinced by the first couple of episodes but as the series continued it got better and better. On the whole the acting was excellent although the female officer was a bit wooden. The first story felt a bit rushed and muddled at the end but the other 2 were much better.