Dalziel and Pascoe

RIP Warren Clarke November 2014. I am finishing watching this series this Holiday Season in a tribute to Warren's recent passing. Warren Clarke is absolutely BRILLIANT in this series. I first found it via Masterpiece Mysteries on my US PBS channel back in the 90's. After that, it was hard to find, until nice folkes uploaded episodes. I have watched Series 1-11 at least once a year for the past 5 years. I have waited for it to be available in the US and now you can order via Walmart.com...wonderful site. Will be purchasing for my birthday in January 2015. This, New Tricks and my other favourite UK Series will be added as $ allows. Back to Dalziel & Pascoe. I am 62, a film/TV buff since a wee child. Soupy Sales comes to mind when thinking of Andy Dalziel. Out of thousands of TV Characters seen over the years. Andy is truly in my Top 10. His thick Gaelic Brogue and his "true-to-reality" male behaviour are EPIC. You must watch a few episodes to realize Andy's HEART...some may be appalled with his "nose-picking", ball-scratching, lip-smacking" humouristic, characteristics. This is perhaps THE MOST REAL CHARACTER ever seen on TV. He is not your typical "Lovable Barnaby" DI, and not for fans of "Nicely Nice" DIs, calmly moving toward the obvious suspects. Dalziel will venture wild accusations, then apologize if he's wrong, and "gloat" as Peter Pascoe chides him, when he is found to be right. Dalziel is not a Politically Correct PC, he is unapologetically irreverent and brash. However, if you watch long enough, you will see Dalziel CRY soft sobbing tears in the face of loss and tragedy. I have never seen Barnaby cry. I guess the best way to put it, is...(Midsomer Murders which I love, finds an Adorable 1 Dimensional Barnaby) ANDY DALZIEL, is a MULTI-faceted character, a 3F man with flaws, failures & foibles. I have found him to be an admirable character. He is WISE, LOYAL, "A Dog With A Bone (me too)" and KIND with consideration. The Dalziel & Pascoe Series teaches that some crimes are resolved with "FATE" and lives lived with melancholy, instead of "booty". I love the supporting characters as well, although I hated "Ellie", Peter's wife...She was stunning to watch, beautiful and acted well, however, sad to watch her belittle Peter. Wieldy, the big silent softy, is a joy to watch and he provides a great supporting character to the mix. The female supporting cast members were fairly great as well...currently watching Posh Spicer, and she is good in her part and plays in 20 episodes. I haven't said much about Peter, sometimes I love Peter and sometimes, I simply want to smack him...His character is much more flawed than Andy's...While Andy loyalty is constant, Peter vasillates and has periods of doubt and suspicions. He is a brooding character, quite melancholy, but no Dalziel & Pascoe without Pascoe. There have been several characters that I have hated they killed off. Well enough...A QUITE WORTHY WELCOME Series and again, Andy stands alone with Alum Armstrong as Brian Lane in New Tricks as the MOST OUTSTANDING UK characters EVER! and to the person dissing this for A Touch Of Frost...I love that show as well...and the character FROST...he might be my 3rd., 4th or 5th. favourite DI.. WATCH IF YOU DARE! Not a sugar cookie, but a MACAROON!

There are many strong contenders (in particular "Frost" and "Foyle's War"), but having seen many British crime shows, I think this has to be the best overall. A wonderful cast (including the minor parts), realistic plots, magnificent and varied settings, and moments of deep drama and feeling, often tragic, even epic. And there's the humour, while Dalziel is a one-off, sublimely played by Clarke. I am watching the entire series for the second time and enjoying it even more than the first. A sublime TV achievement.

I love Reginald Hill's novels upon which these shows were based and having read the lot, I have to agree with others in saying that the cast is less than accurate, though Warren Clarke and David Royle come closer in spirit to their book counterparts, if not physically. Colin Buchanan is too insubstantial to make Pascoe as strong as he is in the books and Susannah Corbett, while getting Ellie's smug self-satisfied know-it-allness down pat, looks and acts too hard - she fails to relay the bits of vulnerable sweetness of the book Ellie that makes it clear why Pascoe adores her. That being said, the stories remain fairly true to the novels, if far less bawdy and they retain much of the dark Northern humor that makes the books so enjoyable. With Clarke lacking the sheer bulk and crudity of the book Fat Andy, the scenes demonstrating his brilliance as a detective and perspicacity about the human condition are far less surprising than when they emerge in the novels. Even after you've read several of the stories, Hill makes Dalziel so obnoxious and primitive, you can visualize the scrapes on his knuckles from dragging them on the ground, when his genius and sensitivity lead to the truth - and that is what Dalziel is all about, getting to the truth - it still startles. However, judging the TV versions without considering the novel versions, the series is a cut above the standard fare in the UK, let alone the US, and is literate, funny, intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable. The acting, direction, pacing and scenery are completely credible and it is a treat to suspend reality to watch this - and the other UK coppers like Barnaby, Frost, Morse, et al.

We are in the middle of season 7 at the moment in Sweden, and I've been watching it since season 4. And I must say that I've liked what I've seen so far. Every summer they show Midsomer Murders on Swedish television, and I USED to enjoy that show until I found this masterpiece. Here the characters and environments are more realistic, the plots are more complex and interesting, and the endings are not alway crystal clear, which, for the thriller-interested viewer, is quite satisfying. The ongoing Dalziel-Pascoe relationship is probably the best in its genre, and Dalziel's one-liners sometimes make you laugh your head off! I hope they will continue to show Dalziel and Pascoe in Sweden, although I don't think it's well known here. It's as good as Frost, and much better than the latest seasons of Midsomer Murders. UK can certainly make my evenings a lot more fun.

Finally got around to watching the first 7 seasons on Britbox here in the US. Love the cast and hope that the channel will have all the seasons at some point as I hated to let go of the characters. My only complaint was to do with the editing, which seemed to stick scenes together in an unrelated manner that was very confusing at times. The endings of a few of the episodes were also not very defined as there did not seem to be a proper explanation given throughout each episode as how it all fitted together! Left me wondering what the point of the story was. Even with its not so positive points, it's a great series to watch, especially if you know the Yorkshire area well.