Commissaire Bancroft

Although the last episode became increasingly predictable, overall a very enjoyable series. Good acting and plot - well above average. How some of those reality programmes get prime time on the main ITV channel over this is beyond me.

I decided to watch this after reading a very negative review from someone who seems to have a hangup about women playing lead parts in crime series. Personally I found the first episode excellent - good story line, strong characters, highly competent acting, what's not to like?

I noticed the overall score dropped so decided to review after watching one episode. It is exciting and intriguing. The acting is excellent particularly from the two female leads. Maybe one good cop and one bad cop? Nothing is definite though! Women have to prove themselves beyond what is expected of their male counterparts and this could affect their methods in trying to achieve their next rank in the police force. There is a main plot and at least two subplots but guessing they will all collide eventually. The writing is good and invites predictions from the viewers. An emphasis on female roles including a doctor of forensics who is also undervalued by one male colleague at least makes me suspect some female writer at work but then again it could be a male fighting the female cause. Many stories have been written about bad male cops so this could be also offering an alternative. The female of the species, after all, can be deadlier. Now watched the four episodes and still believe this is a good show. My one complaint is where is episode five or when is season two coming? I have questions that require answers. There should be a criteria for scoring as people giving this a one or a three is ridiculous. The acting was solid and I was not bored and the storyline with several plots kept me thinking. There were a variety of characters to be followed like the father and the boyfriend who was also the son of Bancroft. There is sufficient suspense to keep one entertained. It is not supposed to be an action piece so why expect that. It is thought provoking and layered enough to allow the viewer to fill in gaps and predict. It is at least seven out of ten.

Hell hath no fury as a psycho cop! Enjoy the ride and try to ignore plot holes galore and a shallow script. Parish holds the screen with her Bisexual demeanor, helped by the paucity of male characters to rein her in. We know she's going to get her comeuppance in the end and sorta wish she didn't.

I rated the 1st series of this a 5, but there is a night and day difference in the quality between the 2 seasons. I'm not sure the reason, but gone are the dodgy accents, the awfully miss-cast actors and actresses have been replaced by quality - Charlotte Hope in particular - that suit the role that's been written for them, and Sarah Parish has evolved brilliantly into the role - helped by a plot that stops trying to turn her into something she cannot be but instead allows her to fit into the role and show off her abilities.

The story Is moodily brilliant - shocking and gripping. It's all incredibly well done. There's still holes - it's not the best thing I've ever seen - Joe leaves a lot to be desired and some of Bancroft's antics remain too far from police policy to ever be deemed possible - but it's entirely watchable and enjoyable.

The biggest problem this show will have is that the first series is needed to be watched to fully understand the background of the story - and the first series is a complete and utter car crash. There will be a lot of people that will give up a long time before they've given the second series a chance. Which would be a real shame.