The Black Tower

I am really a fan of the P.D. James stories that have been adapted for television. I find it hard to believe that "The Black Tower" has not been seen since it was originally shown on the PBS "Mystery" series.

It would be nice if they aren't going to show this again, putting it on DVD would be nice.

Toynton Grange, a place of healing, therapy, recovery, and murder. Adam is brought in by his old friend Father Baddeley to look into a strange death, and series of poison pen letters.

As a story, it's deep and intricate, it's very character driven, and is a perfect mystery for the mind of Dalgliesh to solve. Adam is troubled here, we see a different side to the normally robust figure, Marsden is excellent.

The pace is slow by today's standards, but deliberately so, that pace allows the characters and plot to develop nicely.

It gets better as it progresses, and develops well, it is a little padded in parts, but the final two episodes are worth the mid point lull.

Excellent performances all round, Martin Jarvis and Pauline Collins stand out equally for me.

PD James is so clever at drawing you into a web of structure, order, and everything being as it should be, but scratch the surface and all manner of secrets lay.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, 8/10.

After 6 hours of watching, it ended like this? Have not read the book so I can't compare the endings. I guessed the identity of the murderer and why in the very first episode. I had seen a very similar plot in an Inspector Morse episode but I don't know who inspired whom.

This perfectly polished period piece does full justice to P D James' erudition and her beautifully honed cast of almost Dickensian characters. The dramatic scenery of Dorset provides the ideal setting for this complex and absorbing mystery. Roy Marsden portrays the detective poet, Adam Dalgliesh with his usual panache and is ably supported by fellow cast members. Those who have not read PD James' brilliant novels will not be able to guess the identity of the murderer until the last episode, despite the meticulous and perfectly timed trail of clues, interspersed with a plethora of red herrings, necessary to ensure the enjoyment of both crime buffs and novices to the genre.

One of the best of the series if not without flaws.

Most of the good points are those that make the series as a whole enjoyable: Roy Marsden's marvellous portrayal of Dalgliesh; interesting relationships, characters, and motives that turn out not to be what was first thought; an interesting situation (a curious care home driven by an ethos based on the religious conviction of its founder whose staff are as screwed up as the inmates) providing the enclosure that is essential for a good who dunnit; and atmospheric use of locations (the tower by the sea and the over-large country house cum care home).

Similarly the main weaknesses here occur in some other stories in the series: relatively little light and shade among the character set and (gloomy failures are fine but a few brighter, shallower characters would help to vary the dramatic palate); and little forensic science applied to the solving of murders (some of the series's murderers would be banged up in five minutes if Dr Laura Hobson got a look at the body).

The stand out performance after Marsden here is Pauline Collins as a boozy, rational, emotional, witty, sad, cheerful, deliciously sexy, loving, not-loving wife. Collins is an absolute mistress of controlling the pace and air of a scene and of giving a character three different believable faces within a few lines without a hint of trying.

Martin Jarvis also gives a deceptively multi-layered performance as the head of the care home; the part could easily have been written for him as it makes good use of his tortured whimsical air.

The ending is a little mundane but I can forgive that after a pretty gripping six episodes.

This is a beautifully-done piece of slow, thoughtful whodunnitism - a type of drama that is, sadly, no longer available on TV.