Bookish

Gatiss really stepping out of his comfort zone here, portraying a gay, waspish and brilliant bookseller cum detective. I was resistant at first, seeing it as Gatiss's attempt to claim the role Cumberbatch got to before him, but I really warmed to it and I'm glad to see a second series has been greenlit.

The supporting cast are very stage school gorblimey, and there are one or two really bum notes like the diminutive Turkish girl who has, to put it kindly, an unusual acting style. Book's beard, cough, wife is a charming and attractive presence and their relationship is well drawn. The cases are unnecessarily convoluted, but who cares. This is slippers, tea and biscuits TV, and God bless it for that.

I wanted to like this program more than I actually did. It's premise, actors and affable quirks were most promising from the trailers. But it just didn't live up to it and I'm afraid it was Mark Gatiss, for me, who missed the mark.

The performance echoed and harked back to characters originally played in The League of Gentleman decades before (brilliant twisted humour). But having seen Gatiss perform this schtick many times in programs and films, it has worn thin.

Recently, I read an article where Mark Gatiss talked about nostalgia being the problem with new Dr Who episodes and holding it back. Ironically, nostalgia seems to be the guiding force behind his acting. I still like Gatiss but he is slowly ascending a glass pedestal of his own making.

I find very climactic the already well-known British device of presenting the episodes with an initial sequence apparently not related to the main timeline, but whose relevance will later be revealed (see Vera, Endeavour and many etcs.) This is, to me, the 'antipasto' for a most palatable 'crime dinnertime'.

I warn against the not-very-realistic reviews of people who don't even deign themselves to watch a full first episode and, based on a few minutes of hasty viewing, mark poorly a whole season or the show altogether. If you will take the time and trouble to write a review, at least take the time and trouble to see the whole season first. Otherwise, what worth is there in assessing something you haven't actually watched?

For those who have really watched Bookish, the experience seems to have been delightful. And Mark Gatiss plus Polly Walker, what a fantastic cast. A crowd-pleaser of course, but always delivering!

I liked the atmosphere, the bookish thing in itself, the character development and the 'magnetic' traction of the show, which drew myself in from the very beginning. So what else can I do other than recommend it, especially for those lovers of British crime series.

I'm not a fan of everything that Mark Gatiss has been in, like "Moonflower Murders" or the "Sherlock Holmes" series, but I did enjoy "Bookish". I've always been a fan of Polly Walker from "Enchanted April" to "Bridgerton", she's great in any role. And Connor Finch is a nice addition.

It's a very English detective series, something to relish like an Agatha Christie mystery. You just need a cup of tea and some biscuits and a comfortable chair. Trottie and Gabriel's lavender marriage wasn't that unique, it had a name. The episodes are different, not recycled plots that have been done before.

It's already been renewed for a 2nd season. I hope season 2 has 8 episodes instead of 6. It's a different take on the amateur detective genre and worth a second season.

It's rare for a show with such a brilliant theme and concept to fall apart so quickly, but Bookish manages it with surprising speed. What starts as a gentle, character-driven world in the first episode devolves into a frustrating and aimless experience by the second.

Unfortunately, this promising premise was let down by poor execution. The second episode squanders all narrative momentum, turning the possibly deliberate pace of the premiere into a frustrating meander.

The central mystery, which should be the show's driving force, struggles to move forward, or may I say just entangles itself repeatedly... making the plot feel aimless and repetitive.

Instead of building tension, the story feels too clever for its own good, introducing a series of convoluted scenes that go on with no clear end in sight. The show relies heavily on its quirky characters, but without a compelling narrative, their unique traits become a tedious way to fill time.

Ultimately, Bookish fails to deliver, leaving me with a sense of disappointment and a feeling that the series is a book best left unfinished.