Dr Jacques COULARDEAU This is an old series, for sure, with old computers (I still have one from 1998) and old portable telephones and hardly any internet. It was England in its Major and post-Major time: it had been clearly cleaned up of some of the working class and trade union privileges and restructured along some privatized lines, and Blair was not going to change all that, and he was even going to deepen it with the entrepreneurial approach of anything like here police work.The series is situated in Cornwall, which is a strange choice because of the very particular particularisms of this region of England. Cornwall was the heart of the old Celtic England, a lot more than Ireland and Wales and at the geographical center if Brittany was taken into account. The most Celtic heritage in England is situated in Cornwall and concerns Ireland and Brittany, slightly Wales and King Arthur's England around this center. It is Tristan and Iseult. And strangely enough the Celtic heritage in Cornwall has been entirely erased by history, and it is true Tristan and Iseult was first written down at the end of the eleventh century under William the Conqueror, not in Celtic or even old Anglo-Saxon languages but in Norman French. Some old Welsh Triads have kept in old Celtic Gaelic language some elements of this very old story, tale, romance, epic even.But the series explores the Cornish particularisms of the deeper old population of this area that has become a great touristic destination in England and has thus been "invaded" by a whole set of entrepreneurs from the Cornish landed upper class or from England with all it brings along including various criminal traffics like drugs and some others. The series reveals the deep hatred existing in the countryside among the old farming families that can use a gun to solve a problem like others used toothpicks to clean up their teeth. And fishermen are not much different along that line. At the same time in such large families that at times look like clans or tribes, there is an extremely strict hierarchy that leads to absolute power in one man or woman in these clans and these individuals, when confronted with the modern world, with tourists from outside and with entrepreneurs from England, can react like schizophrenic people. The term is used a couple of times though today this term is no longer acceptable and should be changed to psychotic. But psychotic they are for sure.That is the main interest of the series. The exploration of such deep inherited social structures that are dysfunctioning in modern times. The second interest is the police itself, with its various strata and hierarchies, with the ambitions of local bosses who want to get into the Home Office or simply to some bigger city like Bristol and of course London. These ambitious police social climbers are climbing by using their "underlings" as steps to go up the police social ladder, and what's more, with the newspeak of entrepreneurial understanding of anything that brings together more than two people and that is nowadays referred to as Human Resources. In this conception, men and women are just pawns on a chessboard, with the particularity of having psyches that may react in a strange way and have to be brought down under control, by retiring the concerned individuals, by framing them if necessary.The various and successive plots, one plot per episode, are always well sewn up with a twist at the end that generally is more in the method to bring the criminal down rather than to reveal his or her identity we have often subsumed before. It thus is a rather entertaining and intriguing thriller of a series that can be watched from root to land's end with interest and pleasure.Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU

Rupert17 Must say watching episodes of Wycliffe recently I found them very enjoyable. The much-respected Penguin TV Companion only gives 2 stars out of 4 for the series – I believe it to be better than that. I think Wycliffe may not be as punchy as Morse or quirky as Frost, but the stories and settings are interesting and the supporting actors in each episode give strong performances. The acting talent in Britain shows great depth.I think that Jack Shepherd's performance as Wycliffe is considered by some to be too dour and laconic, but that's the way the character presents. There are plenty of other crime shows with more flamboyant and outgoing characters available for viewing. It's the difference between many of the main characters that makes them attractive or not, depending on individual taste. I like his personality and the way Shepherd portrays him.The supporting characters played by actors Jimmy Yuill and Helen Masters as the two inspectors are great foils for Jack Shepherd's Wycliffe and add balance to the show. There are times when these two are at odds with each other's methods, but respect and a level of affection remains between them and is done realistically without the histrionics some other shows seem to think add colour to the narrative. And although office politics are a source of excellent humour in Frost, in Wycliffe it is portrayed realistically and in a way that enhances the story and has the ring of truth.Maybe it's not as high profile as some others, but it is worth watching just the same.

ctyankee1 I watched a lot of the series up to Season three.The stories are really interesting and the actors are good.My disappointment comes in the end of episodes and in the summation of why a killer killed makes me mad.These cops makes excuses as to why people do bad things. The latest one "305 Crazy for You" was of a woman that heard voices and was a mental case. They excuse every bad thing she does Ms Lane even hugs the woman that stabbed a cop. They let the "mental" criminal act out to get sympathy from the viewer that "this person does not know what they are doing".This makes me sick. Wycliffe stories always giving criminals the excuse as to why they killed. Evil people do bad things and it does not matter if they are nuts, on drugs or going through something like a divorce. Sometime when a person is found guilty the ending of the episode does not show them going to jail or what happens. In fact Wycliffe and his group talk to suspected criminals like they are their best friend. They have tea with them, tell them how much they need their help, knowing these people are the killers or covering up for the killer. They don't use guns and when another cop shoots they are reprimanded.Society has to stop making excuses for killers. Keep them in jail and don't let them out because the jails are full, build more prisons.This series is supposed to be in Cornwall England but even in the US people get paroled only to come out and kill again.People of today have no brains and they scare the cops so they can't do their job like in New York and Ferguson.So society becomes pacifist while the criminals kill the rest of us.

TheLittleSongbird Despite the occasional slow tempo, Wycliffe is a wonderful detective series. It is gritty and tense, but there is something somewhat charming about it as well. The series is beautifully photographed, and the scenery is exquisite. The music, especially the main theme, is lovely and has a pleasant Cornish lilt to it. The series is well scripted and well constructed in terms of story lines as well, with the writing focused, thoughtful and sensitive and the story lines having their fair moments of grit and tension. And the acting is great, Jack Shepherd is superb as Wycliffe, who is quite old fashioned and conventional, and Helen Masters and Jimmy Yuill are also great as well developed supporting characters. Overall, a fine detective series, perhaps not the best out there, but it is very atmospheric thanks to the scenery and main theme music. 9/10 Bethany Cox