marshallbrown-43375 Another superb British police "procedural," with DCI George Bently (Martin Shaw)the eponymic self-effacing righteous cop bent on seeing justice done, not infrequently at the expense of poor or corrupt police work by others. With his less-righteous Detective Sergeant John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby), the pair play very well off of each other amid England's north end in the Newcastle and Durham areas -- great accents! -- where Gently moved after being fed up with corruption he saw at London Met... a storyline woven in and out throughout the series. Few are the episodes merely "catch the killer"; there usually is one or another social issue involved; as said, Gently is a moral cop.

ianlouisiana Transferring from the Met to escape the endemic corruption amongst CID officers,George Gently(Mr M.Shaw)gruff but compassionate is saddled with DC Bacchus(Mr L.Ingleby),later promoted to DS,mainly,it must be said on Gently's back,who is,frankly,everything Gently left the Met to escape from."Handy",i.e.not averse to giving a suspect the odd smack, not totally committed to the "innocent until proved guilty"mantra,and very,very ambitious,to the point of joining the Brotherhood to further his career(and that's not even even considering the fact that he impregnates the Chief Constable's daughter). After a p*ssing contest lasting several episodes an exasperated Gently finally forces Bacchus into the boxing ring and knocks seven bells out of him,thus earning his respect and not,as you might imagine,his eternal enmity. Mr Shaw,often remembered solely for his bad hair days in "The Professionals has matured over the years into a fine expressive and sensitive actor from "Judge John Deed" to "The Scarlet Pimpernel",his splendid voice has given gravitas to some scripts of variable merit. As Gently he retains the vestiges of a London accent that has had the rough edges knocked off it as he climbed the Met's ranks. Only the occasional lost aspirate or glottal stop cunningly inserted are giveaways that he is not the classic middle class senior detective of the era. Mr Ingleby,full of energy and aggression,keen to make a name for himself and climb the slippery pole,is just right as the junior detective as chancer:one eye open to give his guv'nor a good impression. The latest series started Sunday night with a rare excursion into the pop culture of the mid 1960s. A schoolgirl is found murdered and Gently's investigations gradually unravel the secret lives of a group of pupils and teachers. There was a brilliant,rather moving performance from Mr N.Morrisey - not,I must admit,a favourite of mine - as the Jimmy Saville figure hosting a T-T.T.V. pop show, gradually accepting that he is getting too old for the job and preparing to move reluctantly on. D.S.Bacchus is clearly going to be eternally "on a promise" and Gently even more brooding than before. The over - riding impression left by his series is one of quality,high production values,stunning settings and fine supporting performances throughout. Compared to other TV Cop Shows this is indeed,High Art.

pensman Martin Shaw plays an out of sync copper. He want answers, he wants justice, he wants someone caught but he will play by the rules. He gets paired with a younger partner, John Bacchcus played by Lee Ingleby, who is more interested in getting results than following the rules but "understands" he might learn something from his unwanted mentor George Gently. OK the characters last names may be a bit too much symbolic but their working relationship is well worth watching and the writing is quit good. Getting through the accents might be a push for some but after a few episodes you get the cadence. A good series. And I like the Bacchus character, who doesn't like a flawed character especially one who is a quick study.

greg82 This is a high quality, well written series which contains excellent acting and believable plots (well, more believable than "Midsomer Murders" for example). The episodes can be viewed as standard "whodunnits" but also spectacularly reveal the massive changes in law, attitudes and culture in the UK over the past 45 years or so.My only gripe is that, despite the great attention that is paid to period detail, the writers always make the mistake (not restricted to this series) of scripting the words "against you" in the caution used by a police officer when making an arrest. The UK police caution in such circumstances before 1995 was: "You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so but anything you do say may be given in evidence." The words "used against you" were only ever used in USA. To have used these words in UK could have prejudiced the case.