I Love a Mystery - Mystery TV Shows (1 Viewer)

[Mysto]

New Tricks –2003-2015

So here it is – the Golden Girls of police procedurals. The London police force needs to “clean up” old open case crimes so they form The Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad.

Det. Supt. Sandra Pullman (Amanda Redman) is put in charge.

In many ways this is a punishment for her (she was a rising star but messed up on a case - "you shoot just one dog...") and she is given a lot of politics but no resources so she brings three retired officers on board to assist.

Brian Lane (Alun Armstrong) is OCD with the mental problems, anxieties, and medications that come with it. He is the organizer/calculator of the group, Sandra Pullman sarcastically calls him “rainman”.

Next comes Gerry Standing (Dennis Waterman) a former ladies man (three ex-wives) he is the wild card. A drinker, smoker, carouser, he has no problem jumping in the seedy side of things.

The final player is Jack Halford (James Bolam). He is the quiet, moralizing heart of the group even though he spends much of his time talking to his wife’s grave in his back yard.

The show has a great balance of mild situational comedy mixed with some pretty good crime solving. They make fine use of the problems with the clash of personalities and differences between the “old style” and current police procedures. The realities of aging are explored to great effect as well.

We really enjoy this show. It has quite a few laughs but never at the expense of the crime solving or the drama of the characters. The crimes may be horrendous but almost all episodes end with a warm feeling.

The cast makes this show and after a few seasons we started losing the original members and the show suffered. We much prefer the early seasons.



Currently streaming on Roku – Hulu – and Britbox. If you enjoy mysteries of the procedural type, I recommend it.

Here’s a sample episode to check out

 

[Rustifer]

New Tricks –2003-2015

Ah, yes...I remember this series, especially the luscious Amanda Redman:

Dennis Waterman--one of the funnier characters and a former crooner--sang the show's theme song.

I agree that as the series progressed and the main cast began to dissolve, the show got less cute or viewable.

 

[Mysto]

Ah, yes...I remember this series, especially the luscious Amanda Redman:
View attachment 178723

Well we know that Jeff will be along. Always there when cheesecake is served.

Although I must admit I've had a trend lately. More mystery to the mysteries.

Amada Redman

Lauren Lee Smith

Lucy Lawless

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Somebody turned on the cheesecake Bat-signal?

Nice New Tricks review, Marv! I like that show, too...though like you and Russ, I much prefer the early years and original line-up.

And frankly, I think Amanda Redman looked better in her '40s and '50s than she does in those younger twentysomething pics.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Three Pines (2022) Amazon Prime

An eight-part adaptation of author Louise Penny's series of Canadian mysteries, following gentle, humane Armand Gamache (Alfred Molina), Chief Inspector of the Surete du Quebec, as he and his team investigate assorted murders, mostly in the quirky little hamlet of Three Pines. The first (and perhaps only, as it turns out) season adapts Penny's second, third and fourth novels, respectively, as well as a novella, in four two-part mysteries. (Penny's first novel, Still Life, was previously adapted back in 2013 as a TV movie starring the decidedly more studly Nathaniel Parker as Gamache). While the central mysteries are standalones, there is an overarching serial plot component that runs throughout the entire first season, as Gamache looks into the disappearance of a young indigenous woman named Blue Two-Rivers.

So far, I've only seen the first two episodes, entitled "White Out, Parts 1 and 2" (based on the novel Dead Cold), but am finding the show an intriguing watch. In this first story, Gamache and his aides, Isabelle Lacoste (Elle-Maija Tailfeathers) and Jean-Guy Beauvoir (Rossif Sutherland, son of Donald), are dispatched up north to the remote burg of Three Pines to investigate the murder of a beautiful but much-despised wealthy resident, an author of a self-help book who was electrocuted in plain sight while watching a ladies' curling match.

Despite the various members of the Three Pines community being decidedly quirky (one is an aggressively antisocial poet who carries a duck around with her wherever she goes), this is not a "cozy" mystery, often maintaining an ominous, dark mood with an overlay of melancholy, especially in its highlighting of the epidemic of disappearances and long-term mistreatment of indigenous women. It's probably best described as a combination of a Canadian Midsomer Murders and pensive Nordic noir, with a soupçon of Twin Peaks weirdness mixed in. Molina makes for a very compassionate, sensitive and likable lead sleuth, one the viewers can readily identify with as we navigate the various unusual cases he encounters. In addition, the snowy, rural Quebec village setting provides a fresh and photogenic backdrop which adds to the overall atmosphere.



The first season aired on Amazon Prime beginning in December 2022 and reportedly did very well in viewing numbers for the streamer... but for some unspecified reason, Amazon has decided not to renew the show. Nonetheless, the series is recommended viewing for fans of slightly offbeat police procedurals.

 

[Mysto]

Three Pines (2022) Amazon Prime

An eight-part adaptation of author Louise Penny's series of Canadian mysteries, following gentle, humane Armand Gamache (Alfred Molina), Chief Inspector of the Surete du Quebec, as he and his team investigate assorted murders, mostly in the quirky little hamlet of Three Pines. The first (and perhaps only, as it turns out) season adapts Penny's second, third and fourth novels, respectively, as well as a novella, in four two-part mysteries. (Penny's first novel, Still Life, was previously adapted back in 2013 as a TV movie starring the decidedly more studly Nathaniel Parker as Gamache). While the central mysteries are standalones, there is an overarching serial plot component that runs throughout the entire first season, as Gamache looks into the disappearance of a young indigenous woman named Blue Two-Rivers.

Hey Jeff
Great review. There are so many newer series that are being produced for the various streaming concerns - hard to keep track. I have Amazon but I don't check it often to see what's playing (that's what you guys are for )