Frankie Drake Mysteries

Frankie Drake in an important respect, is the antithesis of its obvious point of comparison, The Murdoch Mysteries. One to a reasonable degree, reflects the attitudes of the era. The other, Frankie Drake, transports modern people with modern attitudes, back in time, to the 1920's.

If I did not know better, I would have assumed it was a fancy dress party for hip, culturally and ethically "aware", upper crust, Toronto gentry. Suffice to say the whole thing is horribly unconvincing.

Taking this modernist stance makes it hard if not impossible to craft characters with any depth. The resulting caricatures are, unsurprisingly, shallow and uninteresting.

By contrast, the sets are excellent, the stories have, in some instances, a sound premise but the overall tone is so off, this series simply left me cold. 5/10.

If you are looking for something lighthearted that you don't have to think to hard to follow then this is spot on. The music and clothes and scenery are fun. However the acting of the main character, Frankie, is lacking most of the time. Her detective partner, Trudy, is a bit better and improves a bit through the series. Loved the secondary characters of Mary and Flo...they improve the acting level immensely and have a great repartee with the rest of the cast...I think a show with just the two of them would be a lovely bit of fun. A few things that bothered me was the lack of historical accuracy...both in the modern language used by many of the characters and the costumes worn by Frankie. The other characters costumes while perhaps not totally accurate for the period at least aren't glaringly modern like those that Frankie wears most of the time. There was also a glaring pushiness with "girl power" and interracial relationships which while I'm all for these in a modern setting, they are inaccurate for the 1920s. I think it would be better to teach people the way things really were and learn from them, rather than rewrite history to reflect where we are today (or at least where we would like things to be). Mary and Flo's work situations reflect these historical struggles better than the other two characters. Again, if you are looking for a bit of fun this fits the bill if you are able to suspend your disbelief a bit.

Stylish Private Detective series, carried very amiably by a charming cast, in a light, Castle type 'not too serious' way, set in the 1920's with fun music, and excellent attractive settings, and with excellent costumes too - overall very much enjoyed, I hope it extends to further (and longer) series, which given the longevity of it's 'set earlier' stablemate, Murdoch, it really should. And good to see the main protagonists all Female....

Miss Fishers' murder mysteries is a favourite of mine so I wanted to check this out too. A little disappointed. Costumes and set design are fine but the lead actress plays it with very little emotion and delivers her lines like she's not emotionally connected to the role. It is early days and that sometimes it takes a while for a an actor to know her character and I hope this happens.

It does have potential and the supporting cast are quite fun. Not being familiar totally with the era I'm not sure of the historical accuracy but I can put that aside if it gets a little more gritty while still having a bit of fun.

I do enjoy the banter between the characters so will keep watching.

Let's start from the beginning this is a fairly good attempt at a female led series. In time with a few changes this could be as good as Murdoch Mysteries are. Sitting in the same sort of tv. Between serious drama and comedy. The production is excellent, sets and custumes take the viewer back to the 1920's. Not a slick as Miss Fishers Mysteries but a good start.