"Inspector George Gently" is another of those British crime series that I still enjoy on Foxtel Australia. Foxtel runs them through, gives them a short break, then runs them through again.
I don't mind because little has replaced them. George joins "Morse", "Dalziel and Pascoe", "Lewis", "Hinterland" and "Shetland" on the memorial wall. "Vera" is still going and so is "Endeavour", but we are getting dangerously close to young Morse appearing in the same episode as old Morse and then I will probably wake up screaming.
Set in the 1960s, George Gently (Martin Shaw), the incorruptible policeman and 8th Army veteran is one of the best.
I always think a partnership between two coppers that have each other's backs is the strongest formula. The scriptwriters thought so because George was actually a loner in Alan Hunter's novels.
You could say that Gently's offsider, John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) is too self-centred to really look out for anyone else, but he has stood by George plenty of times and even took a bullet for him, ironically fired by Kevin Whately (Lewis) of all people in "Gently in the Cathedral" (S5 Ep4),
The other strong ingredient is humour. Much is generated by John's gobsmacking ignorance and Gently's wry observations on his sergeant's shortcomings. But the introduction of WPC Rachel Coles (Lisa McGrillis) in Series 6 was a stroke of genius as Bacchus reacts to her initiative, tidiness and enthusiasm with classic 60s chauvinism.
George may have been getting on, but he was more than capable of delivering a Liverpool kiss to a skinhead or a clip around the ear to the over-confident John when he stepped into the ring with him.
The final two episodes (Series 8) were among the most complex. Both had a cold case with surprisingly similar perpetrators, and that staple of crime series, corruption in high places.
The relationship between George and John also reached crisis point. Where other detective partnerships were like brothers, the one between George and John had become more a disappointed father with a wayward son. Rachel steps in to ease the rift, however John is finally aware of the mess he has made of his life, and wants redemption.
The ending is poignant as the series completes a circle back to the death of George's wife, Isabella, but he passes the torch to the new bonding between John and Rachel. It was a series that knew how to end, and when to do it.
I don't mind because little has replaced them. George joins "Morse", "Dalziel and Pascoe", "Lewis", "Hinterland" and "Shetland" on the memorial wall. "Vera" is still going and so is "Endeavour", but we are getting dangerously close to young Morse appearing in the same episode as old Morse and then I will probably wake up screaming.
Set in the 1960s, George Gently (Martin Shaw), the incorruptible policeman and 8th Army veteran is one of the best.
I always think a partnership between two coppers that have each other's backs is the strongest formula. The scriptwriters thought so because George was actually a loner in Alan Hunter's novels.
You could say that Gently's offsider, John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) is too self-centred to really look out for anyone else, but he has stood by George plenty of times and even took a bullet for him, ironically fired by Kevin Whately (Lewis) of all people in "Gently in the Cathedral" (S5 Ep4),
The other strong ingredient is humour. Much is generated by John's gobsmacking ignorance and Gently's wry observations on his sergeant's shortcomings. But the introduction of WPC Rachel Coles (Lisa McGrillis) in Series 6 was a stroke of genius as Bacchus reacts to her initiative, tidiness and enthusiasm with classic 60s chauvinism.
George may have been getting on, but he was more than capable of delivering a Liverpool kiss to a skinhead or a clip around the ear to the over-confident John when he stepped into the ring with him.
The final two episodes (Series 8) were among the most complex. Both had a cold case with surprisingly similar perpetrators, and that staple of crime series, corruption in high places.
The relationship between George and John also reached crisis point. Where other detective partnerships were like brothers, the one between George and John had become more a disappointed father with a wayward son. Rachel steps in to ease the rift, however John is finally aware of the mess he has made of his life, and wants redemption.
The ending is poignant as the series completes a circle back to the death of George's wife, Isabella, but he passes the torch to the new bonding between John and Rachel. It was a series that knew how to end, and when to do it.