Pie in the Sky

'Pie in the Sky' is the name of a country restaurant run by part-time Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe and his accountant wife, Margaret. Henry makes the world's greatest steak and kidney pies and would cheerfully retire from the police force. Assistant Chief Constable Freddie Fisher, however, won't okay his retirement for reasons I won't disclose. Freddie calls in Henry to solve difficult cases which are likely to cause embarrassment to senior members of the local police force. There are moments of drama in this series, but these are tempered by an underlying streak of gentle humour. A wonderful cast, great scripts, as well as cooking lessons from Henry, in between the action. Take note of Bella Enahoro who plays 'Cambridge' in the first five seasons. She and Henry make a great duo!

I find the slow pace and characters in this series very entertaining and a change of pace after watching the likes of Hawaii Five O and Starsky & Hutch. Richard Griffiths is perfectly cast in the lead role. The only negative is Freddy Fisher-a humorless self centered prig who abuses the talents of Henry Crabbe and then takes credit for Crabbe's success. I would like to see Fisher parachuted into Northern Borneo and have to fend for himself, using his no talent personality to survive !! LOL.

I really don't have any quibbles about this series. Until recently I could only access the first couple of series in New Zealand but have just finished a marathon of Pie in the Sky and have become totally hooked. Apparently not wanting terror, blood and guts in a detective series means that it is lightweight, if that is so, then so be it. However the story lines are decidedly chewy and the characters have substance. I did miss Cambridge when she disappeared - her clothes were stunning - and I was disappointed that Nicola didn't last the full term, but the rest of the cast/team were splendid and reacted beautifully to one another. Fisher is a complete prat, and it is a well written and well acted character that makes one want to smack him soundly on the nose. As for Richard Griffiths and Maggie Steed, no praise is high enough. It's a great watch and worth anybody's time and brain power - without getting an ulcer through stress at the same time.

One of those yearnings for simpler, happier times led me to reflect on life in the nineties and seeing this a few times lately on ITV3 only helped to foster sentimental memories of a less complex age.

It may only be lightweight, but that's its beauty and delight. Richard Griffiths is excellent and was made for his role as the wise, phlegmatic and unconventional inspector. His portly frame hardly lends itself to much frenetic activity, but his facial expressions are a joy and all you need.

A good mix of stories, not always featuring murder, and the slice of restaurant life is a warm counter to the police activity. Plenty of understated humour from a cast of colourful characters.

In 1995 I thought that the century was ending at a pretty fast and bewildering pace, with technology and media beginning to impose itself in almost every walk of life. But watching "Pie" and remembering it all as if it were only yesterday makes me think that maybe life wasn't so fast after all. Fifteen years on and what I find so curious now is that it was made just before the world went nuts with mobile phones and The Internet. It's a show that has dated well in terms of story, but to never see anybody use a mobile phone and scant mention of computers seems strange and rather sweet.

All in all, a really good example of BBC light drama at its best, when the Corporation considered subtlety and intelligence as important as glamour and ratings.

As a teenager I didn't appreciate Pie In The Sky when it first aired in the mid 90's. However, it's being re-run in an early evening slot on ITV3 at the moment & it's well worth watching again. As mentioned in other comments, the plots often follow a similar path in each episode & Henry almost invariably solves the crime or saves the day single handedly. This is only a very minor flaw though. The scripts & dialogue are great & the excellent cast really bring it all to life. Richard Griffiths is a brilliant character actor & Henry Crabbe is played with an understated charm that most actors would not be able to carry off. This charm & subtlety is carried throughout the whole series & I haven't seen a single bad episode yet. It's also worth mentioning the sheer number of characters in the series. Many of the restaurant staff & Police officers appear regularly from episode to episode but the writers have put real effort into giving them all distinct personalities. I never get the feeling that they are just cardboard cut-outs put there just to advance the plot. Pie In The Sky is very enjoyable light viewing with more than enough substance to keep me interested for the whole 40 episodes.