Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things

An all girls college reunion is marred by a murder. Enter stage left Lewis and his sidekick, literary quoting bore Hathaway. Both are so very deferential and PC when interviewing female suspects that it's a wonder they pick up any clues. The programme then tries to flesh out the snooty and tedious middle class bohemian characters, but they are so obnoxious and surreal that my interest seriously began to wane after the first half an hour! The story was too slack and lacked direction. A meandering storyline with Inspector Lewis plodding around, looking totally befuddled summed up perfectly the way I felt about the drama. The love interest with Lewis and the pathologist is unnecessary and it merely pads out the story as does the eccentric Hathaway, who behaves like an intern on loan from an English literary faculty. Both Lewis and Hathaway are simply not convincing as detectives in any way shape or form. 'Dalziel and Pasco' were both hard hitting and down to earth detectives who had chemistry. Whately and Fox show no depth of character or emotion. Fox is robotic and Whately never gets out of second gear. A real yawn!

At the reunion of former students of an all-female college, one of the attendees is murdered. Revisiting the college brings back painful memories for Lewis as, while investigating an attack at the college that left a 15-year-old girl in a coma, Lewis's wife died. Lewis starts to think this murder and that attack may be connected.

A quite intriguing mystery and one of the better Lewis mysteries. The quality of Lewis mysteries depends on the pacing. The worst ones drift for 80 minutes then suddenly wrap things up in 10 minutes in a rush of information, complex twists and far-fetched plots.

The best take you on the journey and so that there is no jarring rush at the end as the build-up leads you to the conclusion.

This is one of the latter.

Hearing about 'Lewis' for the first time when it first started, there was a big touch of excitement seeing as 'Inspector Morse' was and still is one of my favourites but also a little intrepidation, wondering whether the series would be as good. The good news is, like the prequel series 'Endeavour', 'Lewis' is every bit as good as 'Inspector Morse' and stands very well on its own two feet as a detective mystery and show in general.

As said a number of times already, 'Lewis' started off very promising with the pilot and Season 1. It was with Season 2 where 'Lewis' hit its stride with things generally feeling more settled. Season 3 was a more mixed bag, started disappointing "Allegory of Love" (though to me it was not a bad episode), before getting better with "The Quality of Mercy" and finishing well. "The Dead of Winter" was a well done start to Season 4, "Dark Matter" was to me the best episode since "Music to Die For", "Your Sudden Death Question" was solid and "Falling Darkness" was the best from that season.

"Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things" is one of the few episodes of 'Lewis' where it was difficult to find any fault. Do like 'Lewis' very much, but will admit that most episodes while still rating high fall short of perfection. The identity of the murderer is a surprise in a case full of suspects and their motive just about plausible, their climactic scene is tense.

As always, the acting is fine, anchored by Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox. Whately is again very good and carries the episode with aplomb, advantaged by that Lewis is much more developed and as said he has more development. Clare Holman adds a lot. The supporting acting is very good, especially the revelation that is Juliet Stevenson.

Production values are of very high quality. It's beautifully shot as always, and Oxford not only looks exquisite but is like a supporting character in itself. Barrington Pheloung returns as composer, and does a first-rate job. The theme tune, while not as iconic or quite as clever as Morse's, is very pleasant to listen to, the episode is charmingly and hauntingly scored and the use of pre-existing music is very well-incorporated.

Writing is smart and thought-provoking. The story is gripping with great twists and turns and there is also a real effort to properly develop all the ideas introduced rather than leaving questions in the balance, not always the case with 'Lewis'. The characters are well written and engaging.

Overall, Season 5 starts with a bang, what a first episode for a season, with a personal favourite from the show. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This is quite a well done episode. For many of us, the women at this college seem to have a snobbish, rich, self centered being to them. It would appear that their hatred of men is so strong that they find anyone of that sex as evil. But there is a past. During an anniversary party, one of the more "significant" classmates is found murdered on a stairway. Her neck is broken but other injuries had occurred before that. Apparently, at a previous time, a murder was committed, but because the victim, an arrogant womanizer, had never been found, it shrouded the place in mystery. At that time, a young woman named Chloe was struck and put in a coma. Her sister has attended her for years. The headmistress, a harsh, but confident woman, seems to have a commitment to the past and stands in the way of some of the investigation, simply unwilling to divulge information that would help Lewis and Hathaway. We are also introduced to another interesting character. A woman who worked with Lewis in the past but because of her gender was left out of promotions. She plays a sad though interesting part in the investigation.

One forgets just how damn good Lewis was by series 5 , wonderful quality by all concerned.