L'ispettore Dalgliesh

Stylishly directed and photographed with an excellent cast all-round and a lovely score. Bertie Carvel (never seen him give a bad performance yet) nailed the lead role as Inspector Dalgliesh, adapted from three of the novels by one of the greatest British crime writers, PD James.

The scripts were sharp, with good plots and pacing, nice dialogue and lots of interesting character and period detailing. Everyone involved in this series seemed to be on song. I hope it gets re-commissioned as I really like what I've seen so far. Dalgliesh is a definite winner.

There are 3 standalone two parters, best watched in a single sitting.

Love this mystery show. I've never watched the previous iteration or read the books, but I feel that this show follows the feel, spirit, grit, and the time period of the source material. The British and PBS, etc. Are always great at this. Carvel...fantastic..as Dagliesh and as both of his side kicks mention he makes for a great detective and mentor.

But, for me, this show suffers from two issues:

1. It is so dark (visually)!! Seems like they've filmed all the episodes in the middle of a British winter. I live in Santa Fe, NM, (super high altitude sunshine), and I literally have to close all my curtains so I can see what's going on. It was very noticeable in this current episode (a couple of murders in a seminary/church/boys school). In one scene, a protagonist runs by some daffodils. They are so bright they look like they are fake. When the flowers are brought in, they seem to glow, and the entire background fades into grey/black.

2. Dagliesh is so deadpan!!! If there were a drinking game about taking a shot any time anyone in this show smiled or laughed, the bottle would never crack open. OK, so this show is not a funny, laugh-a-minute procedural a la "Murder in Paradise," or "Harry Wild," or "Shakespeare and Hathaway," but even the darker show, "Vera," has a handful of laughs and smiles per episode.

This is like Bertie Carvel was born to this character. He brings the depth and tormented soul of a poet while being amazingly observant of human behavior and detail around the crime.

The writing and dialogs are also much more crisp. The pace is better as they have not included too many irrelevant scenes. Just enough to move the plot forward and keep the viewer engaged.

The supporting actors are also superb and perfect for the roles.

It is a great service to PD James novels to bring such amazing work to the small screen.

Looking forward to many seasons of this brilliant series by Acorn

i must say in the last year Acorn has finally surpassed Britbox in content quality.

Best cast Dalgleish yet. His sympathy for human frailty is more evident than earlier portrayals. Subtle, yet warm, as one would expect a poet policeman to be.

Have only watched the first episode so far but it was truly excellent. Did not expect such quality drama on 5.

The acting from all members of case is of the highest standards with some very promising new faces.

Check it out.