Death of an Expert Witness

Having very much enjoyed "Original Sin" (one of the later P D James adaptations in this series), I was disappointed by "Death of an Expert Witness". The main actors - Roy Marsden, Geoffrey Palmer, Cyril Cusack, Brenda Blethyn, Fiona Walker - are very good, as one would expect, but most of the minor characters are played really badly - sometimes so badly as to be embarrassing or amusing. This may well be in part down to the direction, which is inexplicably poor from the normally excellent Herbert Wise, who must have been going through a bad patch. Also I hated the device of occasionally making Dalgleish's thoughts audible: it simply doesn't work.

A pity the team didn't remake this adaptation in later years.

This series has become one of our most enjoyable to watch with Roy Marsden being the "perfect" Adam Dalgleish. Having not watched these video adaptations in order, we noticed in some episodes of other stories mention made of Dalgleish's wife and child and the fact that they were killed in some vehicle accident. Now in this episode we find Dalgleish bidding his very pregnant wife goodbye as they await a taxi to take her (presumably) to hospital. Nothing more is said of her or her demise except for two very brief statements from Dalgleish referring to his wife's death "a month ago". Surely something better of this traumatic episode could have been made for the viewer! We did find it touching to see Dalgleish toying with his wedding band in several scenes as the story progressed...wonder if this was a little touch that Marsden added on his own. We also cannot quite come to grips with a "new" Dalgleish (Martin Shaw) in the most recent episodes.

I got in a little snooze while waiting for something to happen in this tedious production and woke to find that in the meantime, little had happened. Direction is pretty bad overall and it's not just in comparison to "today's standards." I don't remember any other show from this era dragging like this. Do I finish Part 2 of this DVD or cut my losses?

British mystery at its absolute finest. Death of an Expert witness is long, but loaded with rich content, compelling characters, and fine performances, a masterclass from lead actor Roy Marsden.

Some will find the direction and pacing too laden, but it's that pace that allows the story to develop, the characters to grow, and the resulting conclusion to come as a big surprise.

It's very much a product of the elegant eighties, with Lesbianism something of a taboo subject, and Stella referred to as a friend, rather then partner, and of course we get some eighties glamour, in the form of Domenica, who genuinely looks dazzling at times, a fine performance from Meg Davies.

Marsden stands out of course, but he's in good company, Fiona Walker and Geoffrey Palmer shine, only Andrew Ray feels somewhat wooden as Bradley.

It's a great story, from a book I'd highly recommend, but this is a fantastic adaptation, and very faithful. This is the best of the PD James adaptations, and I must at this point highlight the sublime music, the score is one of television's greatest.

A truly great watch. 9/10.

This was the first of the adaptations of the P D James books of Adam Dalgliesh, which is unfortunately unavailable to the public in video. If it come again onto your local television station, it is a must see!

Roy Marsden makes a perfect Dalgliesh! Tall, mysterious Dalgliesh is the best man available and is picked by New Scotland Yard to investigate murder and intrigue in a highly sensitive government department.

Jowly Geoffrey Palmer plays a part far different from the relaxed comedy parts of late, and Barry Foster cuts a dash as Dr Maxim Howarth. The plot twists and turns and the viewer will be kept literally guessing 'Who done it' until the last scene! A great night of entertainment for mystery fans. Well worth a look!