Mrs Sidhu Investigates

I was a bit worried about watching this as even though I'd been looking forward to it when I first spotted it on IMDB I'd seen some very bad reviews.

However I'm a big fan of both Meera Syal and Craig Parkinson so I ploughed on with episode one regardless.

It was a gentle cosy mystery with some giggle moments. Light hearted and entertaining which is exactly what you want in a cosy mystery.

I do love crime drama and police procedurals but they can be a bit too bloody and disturbing. On the other hand cosy mysteries can be a bit flat so I was pleasantly surprised with this one.

My other half enjoyed this too and he reckons he's more discerning in his tastes than I am (I beg to differ...) Looking forward to watching more.

I really wanted to like this. I love British and Aussie crime shows and this one has clear pluses and minuses. Mrs. Sidhu is lovely and, of course, we are asked to suspend disbelief when it comes to Mrs. Sidhu being in the right (or wrong) place at the right time which is fine. My issue is with her son. The character is just over-the-top annoying and ridiculously immature. I actually stopped watching an episode because I couldn't take him any longer. His flippant and clueless childlike personality is just too much.

If I'm in the mood for something to have on in the background this will fit the bill.

Recent decade or so has brought forth plenty of crime series where characters, their family, relationships and hobbies prevail over the intense crime solving activities. Thus, the amount of funny moments is bigger and "ordinary" viewers can more relate to the events than just having an "outside" watch... Mrs. Sidhu Investigates is definitely one of such series, being not lame thanks to a certain quality standard BBC maintains. As Slough is ethnically a very diverse area, with lots of inhabitants of Asian origin, it is not another (often odd) attempt to follow politically correct approach.

True, I have my doubts how the events and scenes correspond to reality when fighting major crimes in the modern world and if people with something to hide really open up to a caterer, but the narration is smooth, the main performers are distinct and pleasant (Meera Syal and Craig Parkinson in particular), and the inclusion of other actors known from similar series in smaller roles provide additional value.

The final scenes of Episode 4 alluded that other episodes might follow.

I love the female lead. She is an amazing actress and brings an entertaining, intellectual and enlightening point of view to the detective genre. I also like the dynamic between she and her son. He's a terrific actor and he plays a realistic character of a young man of that age. A delightful dynamic between the two. I also like that the stories are not predictable. Neither my husband or myself were able to pick out the killer. I like detective Mint too. She brings an emphatic tone to the police. I hope to feel more for the detective inspector.....I sense the writers want us to slowly warm up to him. The show is extremely well written and I am looking forward to more episodes.

Mr Sidhu is a wonderful chef, and a good businesswoman, but her talents run deeper, solving murders to be precise. She teams up with the reluctant DCI Burton, and helps him solve various crimes.

A truly wonderful, refreshing and intriguing set of mysteries, if you haven't already check out the various radio plays that were done some years ago, well worth a listen.

Cosy, evening telly, nothing heavy, no bad language, no gore, just good old fashioned murder. Each episode features a level of humour, the squabbling between Mrs Sidhu and Burton is joyful.

Aside from her relationship with Burton, I am loving how she interacts with her son, Tez, he's a good lad at heart, but a bit lazy, a bit of a waster.

I enjoyed each of the four mysteries, my only hope is that a second series is commissioned, as yet there's no news.

I would never have pictures Meera Syal and Craig Parkinson as a crime solving duo, but they work together incredibly well, they bounce off one another so well, how nice to see Parkinson in a lighter drama, he's brilliant.

Meera Syal, such a wonderful, talented actress, nice to see her leading her own show, she's been around for so long, but time has been so kind to her, she's wonderful.

More please.

9/10.