I've always loved "Midsomer murders", especially when Tom Barnaby was around (that would be 1-13 seasons), but after John Nettles left, the show has not been the same. The 5th season was pretty strong throughout. ( In my opinion only not very good episode being "Market for murder"). The sixth season however starts of quite decent with "A talent for life".
Let's go through the positives first:
. The production values are usually great with smooth direction by Sarah Hellings and wonderful music in the background.
. When the story of this episode gets on track, it is very interesting. Twists, turns, red herrings are well present here as is charming humor.
. The cast's also nice. Honor Blackman in particular has a juicy character to play and she does it with ease. Philip Franks was quite good too.
. There are some clever ideas spread out in the story. Especially liked the thought of Gavin Troy almost solving the case.
But...
. The solution is indeed disappointing with kind of obvious murderer and dull motives, which could have been much more compelling. I would go that far and name it underdeveloped.
. It would have been nice if the main suspects had a lot more in them. For example: the fishing plot line, which many characters are part of does feel bit mundane for its own good.
. The biggest problem however is the pacing. I am not one of these people who do not appreciate character building, but in this case the story does take too much time to settle down and get compelling. Mainly because of unfocused storytelling.
Overall fine, but not great "Midsomer murders"
6/10 HK
Let's go through the positives first:
. The production values are usually great with smooth direction by Sarah Hellings and wonderful music in the background.
. When the story of this episode gets on track, it is very interesting. Twists, turns, red herrings are well present here as is charming humor.
. The cast's also nice. Honor Blackman in particular has a juicy character to play and she does it with ease. Philip Franks was quite good too.
. There are some clever ideas spread out in the story. Especially liked the thought of Gavin Troy almost solving the case.
But...
. The solution is indeed disappointing with kind of obvious murderer and dull motives, which could have been much more compelling. I would go that far and name it underdeveloped.
. It would have been nice if the main suspects had a lot more in them. For example: the fishing plot line, which many characters are part of does feel bit mundane for its own good.
. The biggest problem however is the pacing. I am not one of these people who do not appreciate character building, but in this case the story does take too much time to settle down and get compelling. Mainly because of unfocused storytelling.
Overall fine, but not great "Midsomer murders"
6/10 HK