Wycliffe

Wycliffe uses a dull knife of plodding detectery to pry these mysteries out of the gray sea and apparently endless you've-seen-one-you've-seen-them-all moorish landscapes. In almost every one the perpetrator and plot ending are revealed long before the hour is up. Revealed to the audience, that is. Wycliffe and his team take a bit longer. These are the bog-standard fare for older British detective series -- not much originality, not much emotion except the occasional bark of the boss when he is discommoded, lots of old ratty hotels and fusty pubs with less-than-winsome barmaids. A lot of the scenes consist of a couple of the detectives nursing beers in a bar in the evening, fussing about which direction the case should take next. They never agree. I'm watching almost all the episodes because I've already watched every other British mystery series a half dozen times. This is one of the least of these, my brethren.

Despite the occasional slow tempo, Wycliffe is a wonderful detective series. It is gritty and tense, but there is something somewhat charming about it as well. The series is beautifully photographed, and the scenery is exquisite. The music, especially the main theme, is lovely and has a pleasant Cornish lilt to it. The series is well scripted and well constructed in terms of story lines as well, with the writing focused, thoughtful and sensitive and the story lines having their fair moments of grit and tension. And the acting is great, Jack Shepherd is superb as Wycliffe, who is quite old fashioned and conventional, and Helen Masters and Jimmy Yuill are also great as well developed supporting characters. Overall, a fine detective series, perhaps not the best out there, but it is very atmospheric thanks to the scenery and main theme music. 9/10 Bethany Cox

"Wycliffe" is a windswept and rain-sodden Police drama. It is set in Cornwall, the most westerly county in England. Standard dress for plain-clothes detectives appears to be a scruffy grey polo-neck sweater and waterproofs.

The series centres around Detective-Superintendent Wycliffe, whose family life occasionally intrudes into the plots, and two subordinates: a woman Detective Inspector who has been pushed too fast into a senior rank, and a disillusioned male colleague.

Even looking piratical, the Police appear to be intruders into a comparatively isolated community. Some of the office politics which occasionally feature, deal with Wycliffe's aversion to the latest fashionable management trends from London being foisted onto his force.

"Wycliffe" is well worth watching the series for the scenery alone, and hearing the slow local accents.

That is not to be critical of non British crime series.

No plot spoilers.

This is a 1990s detective series set in Cornwall ,which is a poor rural area in the South West of England.

The setting is important to the series,the landscape of moors and rocky coastlines are like a character in the episodes.

The plots seem realistic with references to problems with drugs,poverty and holiday homes.

The cast is great,the 3 leads are excellent.

I do wonder what happened to Helen Masters who is just wonderful.

Since Wycliffe was made there have been similar series set in rural Wales.

As a Scot it surprises me that Scottish crime series are never set in the Highlands

If you decide to track down Wycliffe you might find it a bit slow and the smaller parts are not well cast but this was a proper regional production in the days before ITV became a monolith.

When I first began watching this series I had some doubts about continuing. None of the characters are flashy or brilliant or exciting. Subdued would describe most of them, with only the occasional momentary emotional outburst supplied by a suspect or relative of the victim. Not very much happens: the investigators drive to and from interviews with suspects and neighbors, they discuss the case over beers in the pub, they get moody and down about not solving the case, and someone drives fast on a narrow country road, occasionally going into the trees. Even the opening, with its exciting Cornish music, shows inspector Wycliffe grumpily lifting his cell phone to his ear as the music swells.

And yet, I have grown to really enjoy the series. As others have mentioned, it provides stunning views of the Cornwall seacoast, and it portrays quite well the various types of people one would find in such isolated, poor rural communities. I look forward to joining the team with each episode -- the dour. knowledgeable leader DS Wycliffe, his two contrasting, highly effective senior investigators DI Kersey and DI Lane saying a few pithy things here and there, the young heavy set dependable computer whiz DC Potter, cheerful DS Dixon, and the somewhat gruesome, grumpy autopsy doctor Franks. They don't say very much, but in their various ways let us know how much they like and respect each other, despite their different styles and skills. Even when they have disagreements, these are mostly expressed with grimaces, pointed looks and other facial clues, and eventually the make peace with each other with half-completed sentences.

And that's fine with me! I feel that detective shows have become frantic, using excitable, histrionic acting, fast cutting, odd camera angles, loud driving music, and special effects to lure in and keep distracted viewers. With this show I can settle in with a bowl of popcorn, watch the murder be discovered (it's almost never shown happening, nor is there much if any gore), ride along or sit beside these plodding, thoughtful detectives as they work hard at understanding the people involved and how this tragedy has happened. As often as not, the perpetrators are people, not just villains, who took a wrong turn somewhere or were driven by circumstances to commit a terrible crime. And then the case is solved, and the episode ends, and I can go do something else, without the feeling that I have to binge watch to find out what happens next.

All in all, a very calm, interesting, enjoyable way to spend an hour!