Van der Valk

I am really enjoying the 1972-1992 episodes on Talking Pictures, Freeview channel 81, Friday nights, 9-10pm. UK Very nostalgic to enjoy Barry Foster as the lead Comisaris in these original episodes. Have enjoyed each one. I rate them with full marks. No recent remaking of V d V with other actors can compare to Barry ... so I have turned the TV over.

I watched this on TV tiny screen at home in the seventies. FOSTER was made for the Character, great captivating stories, the old cars and flared trousers and of course a pint, a whole corona cigar, herrings and almost everybody smoked, camel ot Marlbara. My favourite was with Patrick Allen in death on the beach. Van de valk just couldn't pin his missing wife's death at sea was committed by him. His g/f lover the late. Joanna Dunham gave a good performance in this. Excellent series I have on a 12 disc set. Mines a Heineken and some nice fresh Herrings please!! 👍👍

I first saw it when I visited Britain in 1977. I was intrigued by the anomaly (to me) of a British TV show about a Dutch police detective. I enjoyed it and continued to watch it every time I visited Britain, which was often as I had gotten a job requiring it. Some of the actors spoke with British accents while others spoke with Dutch accents, but that was no big deal. After all, aren't we the country that gave the world Robin Hood with an American accent? The only thing that really bothered me was that it apparently never got on American TV, at least not that I knew. It would be great if BBC America were to broadcast the reruns. Barry Foster was a great actor, perfectly cast. I suppose it didn't make it "across the pond" because he used brains instead of brawn and guns, and we already had Lt. Columbo.

Has the distinction (IMHO) of being the TV show with the best ever theme music. Track it down on the net if you haven't heard it.

Oh, and it was a great detective show also.

I think I must have seen a few episodes as reruns in the late seventies,always after News at Ten. After a recent visit to Amsterdam I remembered the original and wanted to see it again so bought the box set. Barry Foster is very good and was clearly a fine actor. He has some really good scenes that exploits to the full Filmed in Amsterdam in colour you get to see the sights. The plots are complex and some scenes may seem a little laboured by modern standards but the show really holds up well against Wallender, Montalbano etc. If there is a production company out there looking for the next European detective they couldn't do much better than resurrect one of the originals, Commissaris Piet van der Valk and pay tribute to the excellent Barry Foster who made the part.