Rosemary & Thyme (TV Series) Racquet Espanol (2006) User Reviews

Racquet Espanol

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 5 February 2023]

While Rosemary and Laura are helping to do up a garden for a Spanish tennis camp that is holding a tournament, in which Laura's son is taking part, tragedy strikes when the body of one of the Pro-Am tournament players is discovered. Although the player is thought to have died in a drunken accident, the gardeners soon find evidence that they were murdered, especially when the player's wife is killed in an accident intended for someone else. The pair soon realise that something is not right within the tennis camp.

Nice Spanish locale, a good set of suspects and some intrigue make this one watchable, though it's quite average-y. Features Rebecca Sarkar who has a good Spanish accent.

The scenery alone is worth 5 stars

[catnapbc · 6/10 · 2 July 2023]

If not for that, as in many of these episodes, the whole series would be much less interesting or even worth watching. The acting is pretty mediocre, but at least each 'case' is short-lived and much too predictable. I enjoy light-hearted British series, such as Shakespeare and Hathaway and even the Miss Marple ones (with the various main actresses), but this is often just silly and downright juvenile in its approach to crime solving and mysterious goings-on. Without the soothing music and beautiful gardens and buildings, I would not be bothered. I prefer even a modicum of intrigue and intelligent dialogue in detective series. It gets sillier as the seasons wear on.

Murderous tennis in Spain

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 12 July 2018]

Have always adored detective dramas/mystery series. This has been apparent from an early age, half my life even, when getting into Agatha Christie through Joan Hickson's Miss Marple and David Suchet's Poirot and into 'Inspector Morse'.

Whether it's the more complex ones like 'Inspector Morse' (and its prequel series 'Endeavour') and anything Agatha Christie. Whether it's the grittier ones like 'A Touch of Frost' (though that is balanced brilliantly with comedy too) and particularly 'Taggart'. And whether it's the light-hearted ones like 'Murder She Wrote'. 'Rosemary and Thyme' is an example of a light-hearted detective mystery series and always gives me a lot of pleasures and banishes the blues when watching. It is a shame that it didn't last longer because it deserved to.

"Racquet Espagnol" for me is almost one of my favourite 'Rosemary and Thyme' episodes, really splendid fare and much better than the disappointing "The Gooseberry Bush". It is slight but at no point does it feel dull, it's full of surprises and is not a case of not being enough suspects.

The perpetrator and motive weren't hugely surprising to me but it's explained well and the climax is quite enthralling.

Visually, "Racquet Espagnol" looks wonderful, beautifully photographed, vibrant in colour and as always with the show with a stunning setting, have always been envious of the gardens seen on the show. It is also one of the show's most visually beautiful episodes along with "They Understand Me in Paris" and "Agua Cadaver". The music has a lot of charm with a main theme tune that is soothingly folksy that matches the whimsy of the setting appropriately. "Agua Cadaver" has some of my favourite scoring of all the show's episodes.

The writing is engaging and suitably light-hearted without being frothy. Some of the dialogue for Laura and especially Rosemary is very funny. The story is suitably twisty without being too convoluted, and is entertaining and with a relaxing vibe without being simplistic.

Similarly the characters engage, with Rosemary and Laura already being interesting and distinct in personality, and the chemistry between the two sparkles. Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris are simply great, individually and as a sparkling double act, love Kendal's fire and feistiness and Ferris' more restrained and thoughtful approach. The supporting cast are hard to find fault with too.

In summary, splendid. 9/10 Bethany Cox