User Reviews

Another high quality episode in the George Gently series. The story is a good one, very different to those that have gone before, this one has a very political theme to it, it unravels nicely, and at the end you feel you should have guessed who did it and why. Shaw and Ingleby are brilliant as always, it's the dynamic between the two that makes the show so interesting, so unlike a Police duo in any other show, I'm still not too sure they even like eachother, let alone respect one another, it will be interesting to see how they develop in future episodes. Tom Goodman Hill and Julia Ford are brilliant, Tim McInnerny as always is just incredible to watch, what an amazing actor.

I continue to be impressed by the versatility of Shaw, I badly misjudged his talents, when you watch this, then watch Judge John Deed, you realise just how brilliant the man is.

Quality, 9/10

Another intriguing episode of Gently. An apparent suicide that unlocks a host of secrets and motives followed by a seemingly-related murder.

However, as with many episodes in the series, the writers try to throw in too many twists and this sometimes makes the whole feel contrived and twists-for-twists-sake.

The ending is also a bit flat as you're clearly meant to side against a certain character when his actions weren't so bad.

I've been a fan of Martin Shaw since seeing him in the episodes he did of the P. D. James' Adam Dalgliesh character in Death In Holy Orders. This series of Mr. Shaw playing Inspector George Gently is underrated since it is another "copper" series, but he plays a totally different copper here and the character portrayal is quite good. No more Mr. nice guy poet Adam Dalgliesh outa London, but sock 'em in the gut George up north and the delicious accent he does to go with it. Impressive and like Death In Holy Orders, Go Gently Through The Mill also features another of my favorite actors, Tom Goodman-Hill, who was also part of the cast for the P.D. James vehicle. I enjoy this journeyman actor as well as Mr. Shaw, whenever he appears in something. Just wish I had the funds to spend some time in Britain to watch these guys on the stage, where they both learned their craft so well. I guess I am going to have to take a look at the Judge Deed series of Mr. Shaw and hopefully the insanity of Ideal featuring Tom Goodman-Hill will sometime in the future be offered on DVD for we American Cousins. Kudos to these fine actors . . . and thanx.

As a huge fan of detective/crime/mystery series, there is the admission that it took me a while to start watching 'Inspector George Gently', worrying as to whether it would appeal to me for "can't put my finger on it" reasons other than being young at the time and not being as knowledgeable of the period. Getting into the show eight years ago and continuing to watch it without fail, it turned out to be simply wonderful and actually became a favourite.

After a very solid, if still settling, start in "Gently Go Man", it felt like 'Inspector George Gently' started to hit its stride with "The Burning Man" and that continued with "Bomber's Moon". The show hit a high point with "Gently with the Innocents" and the high point standards continued and present here in "Gently Through the Mill". There is a lot here already that is particularly good about 'Inspector George Gently' and it definitely makes one want to carry on watching.

"Gently Through the Mill" is one of my favourite episodes from 'Inspector George Gently'. It is indicative that the show has found its feet and hit its stride. It may not quite have the emotional impact and succeeding emotional reactions after watching of "Gently in the Blood" and "Gently with the Innocents" but it is a powerful episode nonetheless.

However, "Gently Through the Mill", like the rest of the show, looks great, often beautiful. It is strikingly filmed and the scenery and period detail are atmospheric, handsome and evocative, a lot of work and care went into re-creating the period and it shows loud and clear. The music is stirring and haunting, dynamic with what's going on and never intrusive.

The writing has a lot of thought-provoking intelligence and balances subtle humour and drama very well and executing both individually just as well. The direction is alert and accommodating and the story, despite having an air of familiarity at times and not as rich as other stories for other episodes, is easy to follow and absorbing with a good deal of suspense. "Gently Through the Mill", and 'Inspector Gently' in general, is very interesting for how British law was like in the 60s and how much it's changed and come on compared to now.

Love the chemistry between Gently and Bacchus, one of the most interesting and well-contrasted detective/crime/mystery drama pairings (perhaps the most interesting since Morse and Lewis). The two couldn't have more different personalities and how they gel and clash entertains and intrigues. Both are fascinating characters, and became even more fascinating as the show progressed.

Can't fault the acting, the continually brilliant performances from Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby here and throughout the show are career highs for both actors. All the support is good, particularly from Nicholas Jones and Tim McInnerny as the two most interesting characters.

All in all, brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox