edie2019F Reviews

Shardlake (2024– )

It's been a long wait!

[8/10 · 6 May 2024]

I've read all of C J Sansom's Tudor novels and have long been hoping to see Shardlake on the small or large screen. Now here he is, and this version has a lot going for it. It is atmospheric, and Shardlake and Barak are well cast. Barak has been introduced a book earlier, an understandable substitute for an earlier character, particularly if the other books are to be adapted?

The multiculturalism represented mirrors the books - Sansom's monk physician is a Moor.

I appreciate it would have been impossible to find an English monastery or priory still intact for the purpose of filming, so the choice of a castle is understandable, but it is a bit jarring. I believe Sansom's Scarnsea was based on the Franciscan monastery of Greyfriars at Winchelsea in East Sussex. At the time Winchelsea was a port, and is still surrounded by marsh.

I hope Shardlake and Barak get a second outing with Dark Fire also being adapted for television.

.

Signora Volpe (2022– )

Sunshine on a wintry day

[10/10 · 17 November 2023]

Spotted this on the Drama Channel and have now watched all three episodes. Thoroughly enjoyed it, particularly the unfussy relationship between Emilia Fox's character and the Carabinieri chief played by Giovanni Cirfiera.

There are no strident characters. It is the subdued nature of Signora Volpe's relationship with her family members - particularly her sister (Tara Fitzgerald) - and with other characters, which appeals to me.

The plots potters along at a leisurely pace, but that just gives the viewer more time to admire the scenery! I hope there is a second series. In the meantime, I may just watch the first series again.

Ghosts (2019–2023)

Unmissable

[10/10 · 31 October 2020]

Among friends and family this is a Must Watch programme, and Series 2 has been every bit as enjoyable as Series 1. It puts me in mind of the TV Series 'Blandings' from a few years ago, and the film 'Galaxy Quest'. Both of these creations boasted large casts of wacky characters whose interactions drive the stories and provide the humour and the heart. The icing on the cake is the fact that 'Button House' itself feels like a character rather than just a location. 'Ghosts' is so inventive and witty that although each episode is only half an hour long, it rewards the viewer every time it is re-watched. There's something Shakespearian about the fact that six of the 'ghosts' not only created the show but also write the screenplays. Well, a big thank you to them and to everyone involved in the series - some of the support actors are just wonderful. The last two episodes were sublime. It's praise indeed to say that if in the future on the BBC schedules 'Ghosts' clashes with 'Strictly Come Dancing', I might just have to watch 'Ghosts'.

Miss Marple: Nemesis (1987)

Miss Marple revisited

[10/10 · 5 July 2020]

In the mid to late1980s this series of Agatha Christie adaptations was a weekly must watch for all the family. They've been repeated on television over the years but revisiting the entire series on DVD over the last few weeks has been one of the joys of our lockdown lives. They have reminded me of just what a wonderful actress Joan Hickson was. If I had to name my favourite performance by any actor in any television programme or film over the decades, it would be Joan Hickson as Miss Marple. It's difficult to pick a favourite episode because Hickson delivers deliciously chillingly and memorable lines in all of them, but 'Nemesis' is near the top.

The character of Jason Rafiel appears in another of the adaptations, and from the point of view of the chronology of his character, 'A Caribbean mystery' should precede 'Nemesis', but 'Nemesis' was filmed and televised first.

Throughout the series there are a few performances which are a little off key, but Joan Hickson's isn't one of them. She's just fantastic in the role. And in 'Nemesis' you have the bonus of a tip top cameo from another fine British actress, Liz Fraser. She is heart-breakingly good as the grieving mother of a missing teenager.

If you've never seen this early series of the Miss Marple stories, do yourselves a favour and start watching now.

The Virginian (1962–1971)

A pioneering Western

[8/10 · 6 June 2019]

Compared to other Westerns, the Virginian was a latecomer to British television screens. Preceding it from the late 1950s were Cheyenne, Wagon Train, Rawhide and the like. Initially, all were shown in black and white on very small screens. Although the Virginian was novel in being 75 minutes long and in colour, the team which created it seems to have come from the former era. Blips overlooked in monochrome stand out like a sore thumb in colour, particularly now, when played on the huge screens we have in our homes.

Watching Seasons 3 and 4 (on DVD) for the first time in 50 years, and catching up on Seasons 1 and 2 on Freeview, I was intrigued by the contradictions. There was the ambitious use of acting royalty like Bette Davis and George C Scott, and yet for interior shots, the scenes of the outside world as seen through open doorways, are painted backdrops which look amateurish.

Given my love of Westerns, it's surprising just how unengaged I was initially with the Shiloh regulars. Betsy was close to my age at the time but I didn't identify with her at all. It's like when you read a novel - there needs to be a character with whom you can empathise, one you trust to lead you into the story. For me, that did not happen until Season 3 when Emmett Ryker rode into town. The experience was like Guy Fawkes night, the fireworks those of wit and humour. It was such a clever script. In those days, with no internet to consult, there was no way of finding out if he would appear the following week. There were no video recorders either so if you missed a programme that was it - gone. But he did become a regular, and therefore so did I.

Why Ryker? Sure, Clu Gulager is easy on the eye, but being handsome doesn't necessarily make a person or a character attractive. He was intriguing. Ryker's awkward childhood, his chequered history, are laid bare in that first episode, giving his character instant depth. You understand how his experiences have sharpened his survival instincts and his intellect. At a turning point in his life, he hits the ground running, inner conflict hot wired into him. The mystery is not who he was in the past but who he is going to become in the future as he takes on the role of upholding the law he was sometimes on the wrong side of. In later episodes the scriptwriters refrained from throwing him into doomed love affairs like the ones Doug McClure and James Drury had to endure, which was another huge plus.

With Gulager driving the performance, Ryker is never, ever boring. He had two good years on the Virginian, but then when Season 5 opened on tv, he just wasn't there. For weeks and weeks he was a no show. My interest in watching dwindled and I sought solace with Manolito Montoya over at the High Chaparral. I never went back. Until now.

Watching The Virginian episodes again, knowing how little time the actors and production team were given to create them, it's truly amazing what they managed to achieve. Season 3 in particular is very good. But the gruelling schedule must have taken a toll because from Season 4 onwards, the turnover of regular cast members is constant. Some long absences and disappearances remain unexplained which, with time invested following the story arcs of certain characters, can be frustrating for the viewer. If you've never see the Virginian before, you could do worse than start with Season 3 and see where you want to go from there.

Ghosts (2019–2023)

A little gem with a big cast

[10/10 · 25 April 2019]

Only two episodes in and the funny and charming 'Ghosts', from the Horrible Histories team, is regarded as unmissable in this household. There are so many witty one liners and delightful nuances that the digital recorder and iplayer come into their own in order to catch them all. There are nods to Sixth Sense and Ghost but these particular ghouls have a life of their own. I'm particularly fond of the group in the basement. Charlotte Ritchie, who can see the ghosts her cack-handed partner can't, is a delight in the role of Alison who has inherited the haunted house from her Button ancestors.

The Virginian: The Dream of Stavros Karas (1965) Season 4, Episode 11

Those boots are made for talking...

[7/10 · 24 April 2019]

Most of the Shiloh regulars have a part to play in this episode about the complications of an arranged marriage, but what I liked most was the vignette featuring Randy and Trampas - in town to collect supplies - and Ryker. It begins with an embarrassed Randy struggling with a full size dressmaker's dummy outside a store. From him the camera pans to two pairs of booted feet resting on a hitching rail outside the Sheriff's office. It seems to be the boots speaking when a voice says, "Emmett, I've been meaning to talk to you about something." The camera pans left to reveal Trampas sitting on the sidewalk with Ryker. They are both idle and nursing mugs of coffee. "What's that?" Ryker asks. Trampas: "Your coffee. Are you sure you haven't been cleaning your gun in it." Ryker, looking directly at Trampas, his voice level and gruff: "It's perfectly good coffee. As a matter of fact, exceptionally good coffee. You don't have to drink it you know. You could be giving Randy a hand over there with that stuff." (Gulager's delivery is so deadpan it put me in mind of Tommy Lee Jones in the brilliant 'Men in Black'. It's been said Gulager was an actor out of the same stable as James Dean. Not at all, He was a forerunner of Jones at his best.) The scene becomes a three-hander when Randy joins the two men, Trampas' laziness being the focus of the conversation. And despite the earlier deadpan delivery, there's a moment when both Gulager and Boone seem to have trouble keeping straight faces.

The Tall Man: Substitute Sheriff (1962) Season 2, Episode 18

Billy as pallbearer

[8/10 · 7 April 2019]

This episode is worth watching for the lively exchange between Billy (Clu Gulager), who is doing his best to big up Mcbean's reputation as the local Sheriff, and J S Chase. Billy: The last feller that crossed Mcbean... I don't like to talk about it... he was so full of lead it took ten men to carry his coffin. Chase: You people in this part of the country tend to exaggerate... Billy, appalled at being doubted: I was one of those ten pallbearers and believe me we could have used two more men at my end!

The Virginian: A Slight Case of Charity (1965) Season 3, Episode 21

A nice helping of Oates

[9/10 · 30 March 2019]

This episode was very silly and I enjoyed every minute. What's not to like when it features my favourite actor in Westerns, the late, great Warren Oates. He popped up in many of the series made in the 1960s. Not all, but a lot of them made it across the pond to the UK. He was usually cast as a character on the wrong side of the law but that was no deterrent - spotting him always put a smile on my face. I wouldn't like you to think I'm shallow or anything, but with him here sharing screen time with the charismatic Clu Gulager and the hugely likable Doug McClure, it's like all my Christmases have come at once.

The Virginian: Star Crossed (1967) Season 6, Episode 4

Ryker in a quandary

[10/10 · 28 March 2019]

Tom Tryon guest starred several times in The Virginian, but here he is Cliff Darrow, an old friend of Ryker (Clu Gulager). Now a wanted man, but hoping to start a new life, Darrow arrives in Medicine Bow under as assumed name with his wife and stepson. Ryker recognising him threatens to throw a spanner in the works, but so strong was their past friendship that instead of arresting him, Ryker rolls up his sleeves and starts to help the novice farmer and his family.

Bringing into the regular cast, a character with such a chequered past as Ryker must have been a boon to the scriptwriters, who could mine his background for new material, material which reveals more about him than the self-possessed Ryker would ever give away. Who would have thought that the former gunfighter and gambler could rope cattle and build fences as well as any Shiloh hand? The fact does not go unnoticed by Sheriff Abbott (Ross Elliott) who is furious when he learns that his deputy has been helping a felon instead of handcuffing him. The murder of a blackmailing cowboy who discovered the truth of Darrow's past seals the man's fate. It also loses Ryker his job but, dogged detective that he is, he continues to investigate until the whole truth is revealed.

The Virginian: Shadows of the Past (1965) Season 3, Episode 23

Ryker as best man? If the glove fits...

[10/10 · 28 March 2019]

The early scenes in the saloon with Belden (L Q Jones) on his monthly drunken rampage are priceless. Ryker is sent for, telling his storekeeper friend John Conway (Jack Warden) that he knows how to 'talk' to Belden. The conversation consists of fisticuffs. It's the second time Jones and Gulager have come to blows. In the excellent Season 2 episode 'Run Quiet', deaf-mute Jud (Gulager) wildly attacks Belden whom he thinks is stealing the few dollars he worked so hard for.

In this episode, the friendship between the quiet storekeeper and Medicine Bow's Deputy Sheriff seems unlikely, but it works. Each admires in the other skills they lack in themselves but would like to master. Conway is teaching Ryker how to play chess and in return he wants Ryker to teach him how to handle and shoot a gun. Ryker is extremely reluctant to oblige, commenting that the price of Conway losing a gunfight in no way compares to the dime he pays for every lost game of chess.

Learning how to shoot isn't Conway's only new venture. He is about to get married to Rita Bolen (Marilyne Erskine), but that proves equally problematic because of her erratic behaviour. The cause? A fondness for the bottle. Ryker has problems of his own in the form of death threats from two brothers recently released from the prison he sent them to. Conway is in danger of losing a wife, Ryker his life.

All these plot threads come together in a very satisfying finale, and I was left wishing we could have seen more of Conway and Ryker's friendship in future episodes.

The Virginian: The Executioners (1962) Season 1, Episode 1

Good roles for the girls

[6/10 · 27 March 2019]

This first episode shows the ambition behind the series at 75 minutes running time, but then it had to be repeated 30 times a year - quite a tall order. Here the focus of the drama is not so much Shiloh as the town of Medicine Bow and the inhabitants who are dealing with the fallout from the hanging of a man some believe may not have been guilty.

For me the episode belongs to three women - Colleen Dewhurst as Celia Ames, whose need to retain her respectability as a schoolteacher is at odds with her desires as a woman, Roberta Shore who beautifully portrays the innocence and optimism of a girl just turning fifteen, and Pippa Scott as newspaperwoman Molly Wood. What did not sit so well with me was the casting of Hugh O'Brien as Paul Taylor. He seemed too old for the part, and the lack of subtlety in his performance left me feeling uncomfortable.

All Season 1 regulars are present - four men (Cobb, Drury, McClure and Clarke) and two women (Shore and Scott). It's such a shame that the character of Molly Wood disappears around the middle of the season. She wasn't replaced, leaving Roberta as the lone female cast regular. Molly's character was so attractive, and Pippa so good in the role, she could easily have carried her own storylines.

The Virginian: Six Graves at Cripple Creek (1965) Season 3, Episode 19

Ryker versus Ryker

[9/10 · 25 March 2019]

In the opening scene of this episode there is a strong reminder of the flamboyant gunfighter Emmett Ryker (Clu Gulager) was before becoming Medicine Bow's efficient Deputy Sheriff - his purchase of a pair of snazzy boots. By putting them on he literally steps back into his old life, setting aside his badge to journey to Cripple Creek to hunt down the man who murdered two of his friends.

Ryker is a perceptive man with sound ethics, so the lethal anger he shows towards a wounded bank robber who has information he needs is quite shocking. He's out for revenge and has no intention of letting anyone get in his way. His goal is compromised by an unwanted travelling companion who may be the daughter of the man he intends to kill. Those new boots of his start to pinch, a metaphor for the conflict between the old Ryker and the new.

Ryker is so self-contained he doesn't get himself into too many romantic scrapes. A propensity for telling both men and women what they need to know rather than what they want to hear might have something to do with it! That's exactly what happens here with Lucille Carver (Sheilah Wells). There's nothing ungentlemanly about him. It's just that he has an overriding instinct to protect, which is why it was a nice touch to learn that Sheriff Brannan (Harlan Wade) reaches out from Medicine Bow to try to protect him, if only from himself. In this he uses the good offices of Sheriff Goodbody (John Doucette) of Silver City. I really enjoyed the interactions between the three lawmen.

Charlie Cobb: Nice Night for a Hanging (1977 TV Movie)

A Western with action and comedy, and Clu Gulager in a lead role

[9/10 · 13 March 2019]

According to the writer Peter S Fischer, this was the pilot for a TV series which the studio decided against making, so this is all there is of Charlie Cobb, private detective.

Charlie is a dapper and lovable rogue, whose vices have had a hand in him losing control of his agency to a rival, so he has no qualms about fiddling his expenses when working. Gulager is terrific in the role. His talent for being quirkily amusing was evident in his performance as Sheriff Ryker in The Virginian - watch him doff his hat at the kitten that wanders into his path at the beginning of 'Ring of Silence', and listen to the exchange with Randy in the saloon at the beginning of 'Morgan Starr' - so It's good to see that comedy potential more fully utilised at last. He's given sterling support by Blair Brown as the long-lost daughter Cobb is delivering to her father, and by Tricia O'Neil as their mysterious travelling companion.

Charlie Cobb makes for a very entertaining hour and a half if you are lucky enough to find it on a television schedule. I just wish it was available on DVD.

Endeavour: Degüello (2019) Season 6, Episode 4

OMG. It doesn't get any better than this.

[10/10 · 11 March 2019]

Endeavour rarely puts a foot wrong. This final episode was no exception. I love to see teamwork in a detective series and that's what you have here, in spades. Shaun Evans performance may seem understated but that makes him so very watchable. And Roger Allam. What can you say? He used that wonderful voice of his to its full capacity as Inspector Javert in the RSC's musical version of Les Miserables at the Palace Theatre in 1985, so if it's conflicted characterisation you want, he's your man. And surely there is no finer actor in Britain than Anton Lesser. Chief Superintendent Bright has some memorable lines in this episode, delivered with such crisp clarity that the words sparkle. Wonderful. Sean Rigby and James Bradshaw are the icing on the cake as the pre-incarnations of Strange and Max de Bryn from 'Inspector Morse', and I thought Simon Harrison did an amazing job as the eternally self-justifying Ronnie Box.

Series 7? Bring it on!

The Virginian: Roar from the Mountain (1964) Season 2, Episode 16

A good episode spoiled by lazy editing

[6/10 · 11 March 2019]

Even in the 60s I never really quite understood why the Virginian episodes had to run to 75 minutes, other than the novelty of such a thing at the time. The strain on script writers, cast and crew of creating thirty such episodes each season must have been enormous. And the corners that were sometimes cut are evident in this episode. There's nothing wrong with the acting or the story, but Steve Hill's search for a killer mountain cat would have had more punch without the random scenes of wildlife poached from other films. Then there's the matter of his horse... Now I'm no expert. Every time I tried riding a horse I was quickly unshipped. Such is my affinity with things equine that I'm a pretty good ornithologist. But I'm not blind. When Steve sets out after the cat, he is seen riding a truly beautiful golden brown horse with a blonde mane and tail. He also leads a white packhorse. As he treks over the countryside, the packhorse vanishes and his mount turns into a nondescript brown horse with a brown mane and tail, then into one with a black mane, and then back onto the brown maned animal. Eventually, arriving at Jack Klugman's farm, there he is again on the horse with the blonde mane. Steve's shaggy appearance, and the explanation he gives for the loss of the white pack horse, rules out the fact that he kept returning to Shiloh for fresh mounts, where of course, he could also have had a shave! Clearly, stock footage of Gary Clarke riding was used as padding. Filmed in high quality colour, the lack of continuity is glaring. On the subject of shaving, another thing which sticks out like a sore thumb throughout the episodes I have viewed is dodgy facial foliage. In the 60s designer stubble was not fashionable as it is today. I don't know what the turnaround time was for each episode, but it surely gave none of the regular actors time to grow their own whiskers when an episode called for it, even if they'd wanted to. This series is now over half a century old. The original concept was ground breaking, and the fact it was filmed in colour amazing. But I can't help thinking the producers strained too hard to maintain the long running time, when aiming for an hour or less would have given them more time to spend on the detail. Tighter stories would have created stronger episodes, making The Virginian even more memorable because when it was good, it was very very good.

The Virginian: Ryker (1964) Season 3, Episode 1

Hello Ryker

[10/10 · 6 March 2019]

In the late 60s, my interest in watching the Virginian began when Clu Gulager joined the regular cast as Emmett Ryker. It was a Jurassic Park moment. You know, the one where Laura Dern turns her head and lifts her dark glasses to stare in disbelief at an exotic creature roaming across the landscape....

This is the episode that brought Ryker to Medicine Bow, courtesy of Leslie Nielsen's nefarious ambitions. There's a transitional feel about it, Ryker's flamboyant look a reflection of his gambling lifestyle up to this point. But there's no mistaking the innate sense of justice in the man, or the wily intelligence he employs not just to frustrate Nielsen's plans but to undercut the false first impressions others have of him. The only person who doesn't misunderstand him is former colleague Sam Lake (Jan Merlin). Their rivalry/friendship is at the core of the story.

It's a good episode but for one thing. The opening scene has Ryker and Lake doing a Ben Johnson, galloping hell for leather across the Western landscape pursued by troopers. Very pleasing it is too, but the effect is spoiled by an insertion from another film, to show a precipitous fall into the water below. I hope that whoever approved that cut had their privileges revoked.

The Virginian: Run Quiet (1963) Season 2, Episode 9

Good script, well acted

[10/10 · 5 March 2019]

When the Virginian aired in the UK in the mid-1960s I must have missed the first two series. I would not have overlooked Gary Clarke as the exuberant Steve Hills, and I remember Clu Gulager only as Sheriff Ryker. Yet here he is playing a young man whose profound deafness has rendered him mute. Unable to argue verbally against the injustice his disability encourages, he uses his fists, which makes his situation worse. Steve throws Jud a lifeline in the form of a friendship as steadfast as Clarke's support of Gulager in a remarkable and affecting performance. Without uttering a word, Gulager conveys Jud's vulnerability, his innate intelligence and his generosity. The boys are nearly outshone by Gail Kobe as Ruth Ferris, proudly holding herself together after being painfully jilted and defrauded by a former beau. She is as tetchy and defensive as Jud but equally vulnerable. Kobe and Gulager have great chemistry and a good script to work with, given added strength by the fact that it does not have to be manipulated to take account of the ongoing character arcs of the regular cast.