Scott & Bailey

At a time when it seems that every TV detective program offers over- the-top-heroics, impossibly good-looking characters, exaggerated Sherlock Holmesian deductions, and smug repartee, this British production comes as a wonderful surprise -- a superbly acted cop show, portraying tough, wise investigators picking through the detritus and debris of human life and trying to keep it all together until the end of their shift.

Although the show is named for the two partners, the dynamic detective duo who have been essential to all cop shows since "Dragnet," it's really a three-person team, since Detective Constables Scott & Bailey are shepherded by a been-there, done-that boss who keeps them from straying too far from the flock.

As a bonus, their patch is grand, gritty and grimy Manchester, where you have to strain sometimes to understand the dialect, but it's worth the work for the condensed wit and wisdom you mine.

You won't be satisfied with watching a single episode, but try to view no more than three at a single sitting, so you'll have something to look forward to next time.

Oh, by the way: the three alpha cops here are all female, so let's call it Womanchester.

Scott and Bailey's first episode was actually rather superb! OK so it was a little predictable but the banter between all of the characters and the clever questioning by Rachel Bailey at the end made this an enjoyable cop drama. To be fair, this series has a lot to live up to - it has a likable cast and its home, ITV, have a reputation for writing some very interesting and good detective dramas such as Morse, Lewis, Vera,Midsomer Murders and Law and Order:UK and, in my opinion, it continues ITV's success at writing and presenting detective dramas. I have a feeling that Scott and Bailey will continue to improve as the weeks go by...

I don't know what others are watching but I'm an actor and I watch a lot of TV and Films (and have been in a lot as well) and this show which my wife and I just finished watching was amazing! Powerful women doing wonderful things without making a big deal out of gender is almost impossible to pull off and almost never happens in American TV. This is what Rizzoli and Isles could have been if they didn't have all the "funny" stuff and if they let their characters be true to themselves. This is what the Closer was at its best but finally I found the writing and the directing and the acting so much better in Scott and Bailey than well any other show of its type on TV on either side of the pond. Get a region free DVD and buy this series and tell me I'm not right. The relationships are sharp (better than Blue Murder which is also a good series) and the stories are valid and dark and the humor works cause it is not forced. The only Detective show I like better at the moment is Luther and it is not quite as good an ensemble show as this one. 10 stars easily

I am thrilled I stumbled upon the first series and episode on PBS! Its heads above any crime drama here in the States. I'm not sure I love it so much because the title characters are women and the boss is also a woman, but it helps! Can't wait until the 3rd series! Hope to see it on my PBS station nit long after it airs in the UK. I've been an avid watcher of shows from Britain. I do not really watch much of shows here. Crime dramas in the US are full of violence, blood and just seem to be going for the shock factor, no substance. Granted Scott and Bailey had their fair share of some blood, but necessary to the plot. Inspector Lewis, Poirot, Wallander, and Morse focus on the process not the gore. I beg of you to allow our PBS channels get the next set of episodes as quickly as possible! Thank you

... cop dramas have a great tendency to follow a formula script, and as a result after several seasons usually become tedious and boring, and audiences continue watching them mostly out of habit... Scott & Bailey is the huge exception to the rule, and I'm positive that those knowing just how good a program this is they're watching, want it to continue on indefinitely... there's actor after actor in this marvelous series that consistently do outstanding work.. and for it all to end, well, would just be criminal (pi)

.. it's one of the ironies that when it looks so easy, an enormous amount of talent and effort on all sides make it appear that way... all involved are producing top flight work, and deserve all the accolades they get.. watching Doctor Foster turned me on to one of the leads in this series... soooo glad I did... the final season was short.. and once again extremely good... know they wished to go out 'on-a-high'.. but this is another series that will be sorely missed.