Natural Causes

Well, in terms of an entertaining who done it, this is quite interesting with nice locations near to Dungeness in Kent. However, when the villain is revealed it isnt totally clear how he could have managed to kill, given a thorough investigation at the start. Lynley is suspended and yet appears almost throughout, which means that Fiona Knight (DI) hardly gets a look in. In those days it appears the BBC had to ensure the male investigator was superior to any female one! Then we have Lynley walking down the street and bumping into "Helen" - but this Helen is "Catherine Russell" who is nothing like the previous 2. For one thing she smiles alot more than "lesley vickerage" ever did. DI Knight is not there at the end, but Lynley is which for me is quite disappointing given that she is a joy to watch throughout the piece, which, again for me, Lynley isnt!

Good story, interesting role switch. Must say, while I find it odd that actors are switched during a series I find this Helen far more believable and likeable than the previous one. There is actual chemistry between her and Lynley; you can see them as a couple. The previous one, Lesley Vickerage, had as much chemistry with Lynley as a brick and I struggled to see why they were even friends let alone married.

Sorry mystery_perry. This is one of the new ones that isn't based on a book. But all in all a satisfying show. Like the other commenters I didn't figure out whodunnit until toward the end. At the beginning I was wondering why the Doctor wanted to take charge of the child so persistently, but it was pushed to back of my mind until the "real father" business came up.

OK, another Helen, but this one is a lot better than that cold stick that Leslie Vickerage played. I could see Tommy actually wanting to get back with her.

As for my favorite character, Barbara Havers is coming out of her shell. She's learned to dress a little better, and she seems more confident. But it is funny that she still called Lynley "Sir" even when she was the DI in charge.

I actually thought the script was pretty good and it was clever in that it combined the plot of the crime with some of Lynley's personal upheavals. This particular scriptwriter is one of my favourites. The dialogue in the car where Havers promised Lynley she would save his dignity by making the video of his therapy session disappear actually made me laugh out loud, and the role reversal, with Havers bossing Lynley around and Lynley having to take the flak was, I thought, superbly done.

I consider myself equally horrendous at spotting the killer, and I didn't spot this one until about ten minutes before the end. Having once identified the person concerned, however, I had no difficulty seeing why they would have acted as they did. But all the way through there were several people who could quite possibly have been responsible.

I admit, this Inspector Lynley Mystery had some delightful moments. For one, the scenery was used to great effect, with the lines of telephone poles fading hazily into the distance and the wind rustling over the great stretches of browned grass of Kent. Additionally, I was charmed by Liza Tarbuck playing a VERY pregnant DI Fiona Knight, Havers's new partner while Lynley is under investigation. I also admit to enjoying a few brief moments of banter between Lynley and Havers.

However, 'Natural Causes' greatly disappointed me, overall. For one, Catherine Russell marks the third Helen Lynley cast in the series, after Lesley Vickarage and Emma Fielding, which completely threw me off--I spent most of the episode assuming she was someone else entirely, and then realized that- wait!- even though she is nothing like her predecessors, this was indeed Helen speaking with a (greasy and lank-haired) Lynley.

The worst part of 'Natural Causes,' though, was the writing. One particular piece of banter between Lynley and Havers, while in the hospital room with DI Knight, simply doesn't make sense; the culprit's actions, throughout the entire story, also don't make sense; and the writers commit the gravest sin of mystery-writerdom: the whodunit is woefully predictable. I had the killer pinpointed within 10 minutes, and I'm HORRIBLE at pinpointing killers. You may want to skip this one and try another that uses the cast and crew to their full potential.