The Last Detective - Series 3 (2003)

Last Detective Season 3

The Last Detective - Series 4 I really like this show. Dangerous is a great character and I like the interaction with Maud his wayward friend.
September 7, 2008

The Last shall be First!

The Last Detective is one of the best Detective series although the title, until properly explained, is a sad bad mistake. However, that is the only negative thing I have to say about this wonderful Series.

Peter Davison is a fine and very competent actor. He has played policemen - of one sort or another - on many occasions and is supremely believable. He is ably aided by Rob Spendlove as his Detective Inspector and, to a slightly lesser extent, Sean Hughes as his erstwhile friend Mod. I also enjoy the regular appearance of a badly behaved mammoth mutt, but the dog's acting leaves much to be desired!

'Dangerous Davis' the Last Detective, is a man out of sync with his working colleagues who, it appears, always choose the 'easy way'. Davis is a throwback to the pre 1960's when police worked using their brains and their 'local knowledge' which was built by experience. They worked successfully, without the assistance of abundant technical equipment and scientific devices. Davis is the quintessential policeman we admired and respected. Would that we had an abundance of them today!

The Last Detective will be enjoyed by all who enjoy a rollicking yarn, decent humour and fine acting. The Series deserves the success it is getting. Enjoy! September 7, 2008

It's a Lucky Find

"The Last Detective, Series 3,"another in the hit British mystery television series, is now becoming available in the United States for the first time. The police procedural/comedy/drama was made by Granada for the United Kingdom's Independent Television (ITV). It debuted in the U.K. in February 2003, and offers a lighter-hearted, but still high-quality, blend of mystery and comedy similar to that of "Poirot," "Midsomer Murders," and "Hetty Wainthropp." It's based on the "Dangerous Davies" novels of the Welshman Leslie Thomas. This release consists of a two-volume boxed set including four all-new full-length productions. Unfortunately, it does not come with subtitles, so the viewer is in for rather a struggle with the North London accents the actors have been encouraged to use, logically enough, as it is set in North London. Nevertheless, I consider it a lucky find.

It's set in Willesden, a totally unimportant, small, totally out of the way North London precinct, and appears to have been filmed there. It stars Peter Davison ("All Creatures Great and Small") as Detective Constable - and it's quite a disgrace to be only a detective constable--"Dangerous" Davies. His chances of promotion are nil; he's the eponymous last detective his supervisor would ever willingly assign to a case, and he gets the least promising ones. But he does generally get his man, or, possibly, woman. He's an average Joe looks-wise, and a rumpled, galumphing, unassuming sort. But he does love his job, and he's surprisingly good at it. He also loves his sexy, beautiful blond wife, Julie (Emma Amos), but, in this particular series, they are separated. And he's rooming with his wild and crazy friend Mod (Sean Hughes, "The Commitments.") Hughes brings a lot to his part, but so do the other leads, and, in fact, the series is consistently well-acted and directed. The mysteries are reasonably complex and satisfying, too. They are:

1. "Friends Reunited." Wealthy mobile phone magnate Nick Roberts is stabbed to death at his college reunion; all evidence seems to point to Simon Dabney, Nick's best friend in school days, now a broken - and broke--bitter drug addict. But Davies insists on believing Dabney's absurd alibi. This episode allows its makers to visit London's underworld, indulging in what strikes me as faux nostalgia. I wasn't there at the time or place, but I rather doubt the underworld was peopled by such gentlemen. It certainly hasn't been since the heyday of the Kray brothers, in the late 1950's, 1960s: they were terrifyingly violent psychotics. And they've been followed by Jamaican posses, Chinese tongs, and Russian maffias, whom you'd really rather not cross. Still, the episode is emotionally satisfying.
2. "Towpaths of Glory." Decorated war veteran Frank Moore is found murdered and dumped in a local rubbish heap. Upon investigation, Davies finds that his domestic life was less than blissful; and that his former army comrades may know more than they're saying. Another emotionally satisfying experience.
3. "Three Steps to Hendon." The Overnight Sensations supposedly topped the pop charts back in the 1970's with their smash single, "Yesterday's Boy." But time has rolled on, and their former lead singer Teddy O'Connor, has been feeling a lot like "Yesterday's Boy," himself. Then he turns up murdered. In his investigation, Davies discovers there's a dark underside to glam rock - what a surprise. The frequently seen Ian McNeice guest stars here, and turns in a gratifyingly strong performance.
4. "Willesden Confidential." Champion stockcar driver Geoff "The Duke" Fallon appears to have been killed in a fiery racetrack fire after an accident. But Davies has a feeling it's murder, and arrests a young hoodlum, apparently bent on revenge, for sabotaging Fallon's car. But Davies has a further feeling, and keeps looking.

These shows are really well-done, and deserve to be seen on broadcast TV over here. But meanwhile, there are the DVDs.




August 17, 2008

The Last Detective again

The third entry in the series was as good as the ones before. This one ended on a more upbeat note that the others. March 30, 2008

The perfect modern British detective series

I am not the smoothest reviewer on the Internets but since there were only six reviews of TLD3, one of them a splenetic one-star for mention of the "diety"[sic], I feel I must weigh in.

THE LAST DETECTIVE is the perfect mystery series for the modern Anglo-friendly viewer. It sets the exact light, self-deprecating, mildly serious tone the subject matter deserves. From the score and title to the acting of the leads, character roles and guest stars, we are given a gift of a visit to Dangerous Davies's world: bracing, bittersweet, rich in detail and fully alive with modern drama.

I suppose there are other actors (Britain is certainly rich with them) who could have filled out the title role, but what Peter Davison has done with it is a landmark realisation on the order of Columbo or THE SWEENEY'S Regan. Every wrinkle of the middling Everyman with his slyly revealed backbone of steel is brought to life in Davison's performance. You genuinely care about this man and his relationship with his sneering colleagues, his daft buddies, his admiring subordinates and his Fellini-elf of a not quite ex wife. You'd like to have a pint at the pub with him, and you'd love him to look into your missing Bentley while he was at it.

I strongly urge US and world viewers who enjoyed, for example, the superb LIFE ON MARS (UK) and, going back, Inspector Morse and Prime Suspect, to start at series 1 and get to know Dangerous, his whisky- and magnesia-swilling Gov, and his whole crew. You will not be sorry. January 30, 2008

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