The Man Who Wasn't There
- Episode aired Feb 28, 2021
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
634
YOUR RATING
Five people go up in a hot air balloon, but only four return alive.Five people go up in a hot air balloon, but only four return alive.Five people go up in a hot air balloon, but only four return alive.
Photos
Bern Collaço
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode's title refers to a line from the 1899 poem "Antigonish" (also known as "The Little Man Who Wasn't There") by William Hughes Mearns. The first stanza of the poem is quoted (albeit slightly altered) by DS Dodds (Jason Watkins) and Roy Gilbert (Rob Brydon) during their investigation at the hot air balloon company.
- GoofsIt is said that 'Captain' Elkins has however many hundreds of hours of flying experience on gliders and balloons (of course the skills required for those two types of aircraft are utterly different) and so they just allowed him to take a balloon, plus passengers, totally unsupervised. This simply would not happen! No matter how experienced a pilot claims to be, no aviation business would ever allow that person unsupervised command without at least one trial flight to demonstrate his/her fundamental competence. People have been known to 'borrow' or forge licences and log-books! In any case, their insurance would absolutely insist upon a proper programme of supervision before an aircraft is handed over to someone from outside the company.
- Quotes
DS Dodds: All set, ma'am?
DCI Lauren McDonald: Yeah. Got your, erm...
DS Dodds: My gubbins? Oh yes, ma'am.
DCI Lauren McDonald: Magnifying glass?
DS Dodds: Check.
DCI Lauren McDonald: Pencil and notebook?
DS Dodds: Check. Check.
DCI Lauren McDonald: Latex gloves?
DS Dodds: Oh, I never go anywhere without my latex, ma'am.
DCI Lauren McDonald: Ego?
DS Dodds: Oh, I left that at home, ma'am. It weighs me down.
- SoundtracksGhosts
composed by David Sylvian
performed by Japan
Featured review
A decent enough opening to the second series
As this, the first episode of the second series, opens a group of friends head to a field outside Bath. Here they are joined by a fifth person; they don't seem that pleased to see him. They all take off for a balloon flight. As they approach the city a carabiner holding the basket in place breaks causing it to swing precariously before the balloon makes a forced landing. By the time they land there is one less person on board, the latecomer... did he fall, did he jump or was he pushed? DCI McDonald and DS Dodds are joined by Roy Gilbert of the 'Air Accidents Investigation Branch' who quickly established that the balloon was sabotaged... was this done by somebody trying to kill all aboard or one of the survivors hoping to create an opportunity to push the victim out?
I enjoyed this episode although it is definitely light weight fare with its cast of well-known guest stars playing suspects in an unlikely potential murder case. Being light weight isn't too much of a problem and the set up gives plenty of suspects to keep viewers guessing till near the end. Even after the main mystery is solved there are more revelations to enjoy. There are some decent laughs to be had; many from Dodds not seeing that Gilbert is very like him in many ways. The cast is solid with fun guest appearances from Rob Brydon as Gilbert and Martin Kemp, Patsy Kensit, Rupert Graves and Cathy Tyson as the four surviving balloonists. Overall not a must see but it passes the time nicely if you enjoy light-hearted murder mysteries... still I'd have preferred new 'Midsomer Murders' or 'Brokenwood Mysteries'.
I enjoyed this episode although it is definitely light weight fare with its cast of well-known guest stars playing suspects in an unlikely potential murder case. Being light weight isn't too much of a problem and the set up gives plenty of suspects to keep viewers guessing till near the end. Even after the main mystery is solved there are more revelations to enjoy. There are some decent laughs to be had; many from Dodds not seeing that Gilbert is very like him in many ways. The cast is solid with fun guest appearances from Rob Brydon as Gilbert and Martin Kemp, Patsy Kensit, Rupert Graves and Cathy Tyson as the four surviving balloonists. Overall not a must see but it passes the time nicely if you enjoy light-hearted murder mysteries... still I'd have preferred new 'Midsomer Murders' or 'Brokenwood Mysteries'.
helpful•144
- Tweekums
- Mar 4, 2021
Details
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content