User Reviews

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 whether it's the light-hearted ones like 'Murder She Wrote'. 'Taggart' is one of the biggest examples of the grittier ones, especially the Mark McManus years and the earlier James MacPherson episodes.

"Babushka" is a very good 'Taggart' episode, if not quite one of the best. All the ingredients of a great 'Taggart' episode are there, with a couple of misgivings along the way.

Do have to agree that the ending was not a surprise, also saw it coming too early. The identity of the murderer also didn't shock me all that much, a lot of the previous episodes of 'Taggart' had unexpected endings and the identity of the murderers were unpredictable.

This was a case of the murderer being obvious too early, the way they behave throughout the episode and how they're written make their guilt never in doubt in an episode where suspects are too few. Not like 'Taggart' at this point of the show, before there were a lot of suspects to choose from though there was a handful of episodes where there were too many characters. Personal opinion of course.

All of that is not to say that the case/mystery wasn't good. It was actually very compelling, with more than plenty to keep one guessing and surprised, and suitably complex and intricate without being convoluted, pacing measured but never dull. Nothing overshadows it too or unbalances it, which "Apocalypse" did quite badly with its over-emphasis on the cult. The script is thought-provoking and diverting, while it is hard not to love the chemistry between Jackie and Jardine. Stuart is getting more settled all the time, a few nice levity touches here and there to help not make the episode too grim.

Visually, it's slick and atmospheric with Glasgow again like a character of its own. The music is neither intrusive or too low-key and it is hard to forget the theme song. The acting is very good from James MacPherson and Blythe Duff and Robert Robertson steals every scene he's in. Richard Lintern is excellent and it is very easy to feel sorry for and relate to him.

Summing up, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox