Dialogues of the Dead: Part 1

This episode is the second of only two which were based on books by Reginald Hill. Some main characters have been omitted, others changed completely; the plot has been distorted, and the ending changed. None of the changes added anything to the drama; what a horror! Hill created complex characters, and (admittedly) convoluted plots, with twists and clues which were vital to the resolution of the stories. What a pity his marvellous books fell into the hands of a bunch of illiterate pillagers, who should return to their obvious home ground: producing cheap thrillers for the undemanding viewers of such rubbish. No fault to be found with the actors, however - marvellous casting, especially the leads. Warren Clarke, Colin Buchanan David Royle et Al are superb in their roles; I cannot imagine any other actors inhabiting the parts. My beef is with (chiefly) the writers, but the producers and directors must share the blame.

Dalziel and Pascoe investigate a bizarre series of murders, none of which seem to have any possible links, apart from the strange texts of the killer, the so called Dialogues of the Dead.

As far away from the show's early years as you can imagine, this one isn't a typical Police procedural, it's glossy, it's sexy, it's over the top, it's more in line with the likes of Messiah.

They definitely decided to sexy the show up a bit, the Pascoe shower scene, a cheeky moment, something we would never have gotten to see early on. It's definitely a more glossy visual.

There's that dramatic opening music, those dramatic visuals with the books, all of which make this one feel somewhat standalone, more film like.

Lots of humour throughout, and I don't just mean Andy's face when he's interviewing Pauline McLynn's character. Bill Maynard is a scream as the gutsy councillor. A wealth of comedy talent here, Lucy Davis, Jack Dee and more.

I really enjoyed it.

8/10.

I read the book well before I saw the television adaption. I thought that it was very well cast. Interesting that Jack Dee was caste as Dick Dee. In the book George Headingly was an Inspector, not a Constable and Pascoe had been promoted to Chief Inspector. The murderer commits a series of seemingly unrelated crimes. After each death the murderer sends a short entry to a short story competition, describing the crime. The list of suspects narrows as some of them get killed off as the programme progresses, a bit like Midsomer murders. Dalziel is his obnoxious best and the identity of the murderer comes right at the end. There are no real clues as to the identity until very near the end.

Oh dear!.

I have been binge-watching the show from the start but this differently formatted Christmas special is oh so poor.

There are some big comedic names here but no sign of any laughs, characters you don't care for and even eye candy like Lucy Davis and Dervla Kirwan can't save the show.

Thankfully, this only an hour long but the second half needs to improve greatly.