"The Inspector Lynley Mysteries" Missing Joseph (2002)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Richard Laxton

Writers:

Elizabeth George (novel)
Lizzie Mickery (screenplay)

TV Series:

"The Inspector Lynley Mysteries" (2001)

Original Air Date:

29 April 2002 (Season 1, Episode 5)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Cast

Pippa Haywood	...	Juliet Spence
Charlotte Salt	...	Maggie Spence
Tony Boncza	...	Reverend Robin Sage
Joanna Dunn	...	Polly Yarkin
Lesley Vickerage	...	Helen Clyde
Nathaniel Parker	...	Thomas Lynley
Sharon Small	...	Barbara Havers
Christine Bottomley	...	Bride
John Vine	...	Kenneth Shepherd
Robert Goldsbrough	...	Police Officer One
Adam Godley	...	Tony Philips
Jason Merrells	...	Steve Shepherd
Nathan Naylor	...	Sergeant Mason
Maggie Guess	...	Woman at Bishops
David Lyon	...	Bishop

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:TV-PG

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Movie Connections:

Follows "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: For the Sake of Elena (#1.4)" (2002)

Ferrying Us

I wonder if I have this wrong. I recall that in the books, our male detective is quite a bit different than what we have here. I recall he was an Earl, drove the Bentley to work. Shades of Peter Wimsey. Also that he was alarmingly depressed, a boozer, a poet, someone who would lose himself in loud classical music. Unlike Holmes, he didn't play it, merely listened, a difference worth noting to this victim of noir forces.

The producers decided to focus on his sidekick, who has depressions of her own that are more readily dramatized. Oh well.

The story? I'll tell you that it is remarkably well done, quite good compared to others in this series and in the larger collection of the branded "Mystery" offerings.

Why? The folks behind this one had some competence with cinematic storytelling. In the very first scene, we know that a woman is a particularly skilled cook and is nervous about what she is preparing, that her daughter has some special gloomy burden, in addition to and beyond loneliness. Also that there is a prettier, younger woman involved and some of our characters will be watching others. All this is conveyed visually without anyone having to tell us in words.

So in the first two minutes (after Diana Rigg reads some irrelevant tripe), you know you will get something better than usual.

The business between the male detective and his two women, and between them and the force — the main thing in the books, is here gladly made secondary to the mystery. Its quite interesting. You cannot possibly guess what's behind the murder, but it is clever, so clever and cinematically so.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.