Murder in Mind

In the modern era of television, over the last ten or so years, there has been so little worth watching. The BBC still produces the odd rare gem, and this was one of them. A slightly wry look at the murder mystery with the stories told in a variety of narratives and a variety of perspectives from the straightforward to the outright wacky this is a wonderful little series that briefly shone for 3 series and left at just about the right time. The episodes are uniformly good.

Especially notable is the episode "Contract" with Adam Faith in as a contract killer in one of his last TV roles with Jamie Theakston putting in a surprisingly good performance as a Yuppie Banker.

I watched this program recently on BBC America television just because Kevin Whatley was listed in the guide. It was hilarious and I laughed and laughed at the (unexpected) dark humour of the story. It was the anguish of having unpleasant neighbors. It is told in a European style, as those who know the song by Ray Ventura and his Collegiens, "Tout va tres bien, Madame la Marquise"/"All goes very well, Madame la Marquise", understand and recognize. Kevin Whatley is great in his role, a new one for him, after the detective series,"Morse".

Murder in Mind is a crime/thriller one hour BBC TV series that is like no other program. Instead of it being like a Murder in Suburbia for BBC 1, it is very different. In each episode, we are given a different story, with completely different characters all linked to a murder. But the uniqueness is that the perspective is followed from the murderer's perspective. As well as terrific story lines, it also features a host of completely different actors, some well known and others still in the making who all shine in their roles. Some of these actors include: Pauline Quirk, Timothy West, Ian Kelsey, Camilla Power, Diana Rigg, David Suchet, Reese Dinsdale and many, many others.

Some murders will be planned, others will be accidents, some will be brutal, others will be clean.

For my birthday at the end of August, I received the box set of all three series and was glued to several of all the episodes. But overall series one would be my favourite. All the episodes are cleverly written, partly due to the clever text from writers such as Gregory Evans and Guy Burt (Who also wrote 'After the Hole' in 1993, which was later translated into the British Thriller 'The Hole'). Going back to series 1, the ideas were all original but also strongly related to the title, where as series 2, very good by not as good, drifted away and series 3 just sailed into the unknown. Apart from the one or two episodes – Diana Rigg's in particular. I feel this is the reason for its cancellation back in 2003. It would have been nice for the show to continue, but extremely hard to find good ideas for plots. Perhaps if the BBC paid bestselling writers such as Ruth Rendell, Lynda La Plante and Sean French to help with the scripts the story lines maybe better for a fourth series.

To be honest, I'm not sure what else to say other than if you manage to catch a rerun of the episodes on UK Gold or another Sky Channel do watch it! They are really worth seeing a perhaps my favourite TV series of all time. Those readers who'd like some episodes references please read on, those who don't – keep yours eyes open for replays.

My top 6 favourite episodes would have to be, in order:

1. Mercy. Dr. William Collins, is arrested for euthanasia – he helped his wife, Margaret , who had been recently diagnosed with Encephalitis Lethargica. Pending his trial, he recalls the painful story which lead to his wife's decision to end her life, before turning a corner into a more dark, sinister and clandestine story … Starring Timothy West, Judy Parfitt, John Gordon-Sinclair and Veronica Lang.

2. Motive. One Saturday night, Michael Davis randomly comes up with the idea of murdering the babysitter; forcing his wife, Barbara, into the situation – the two commit the perfect murder. But why on earth would they do such a thing?? Starring Susannah Harker, Reese Dinsdale and David Ross.

3. Passion. Jane Saunders is a lonely spinster in charge of a telephone operating department, but secretly obsessed with her married boss. Believing his is having an affair with one of her employees, she sets out to finish the affair – once and for all. Starring Pauline Quirk, Lucy Davis, Mark Womack and Angela Ridgeon.

4. Suicide. Jill Craig, a 60 something year old woman, is found dead in her house one morning believed to have committing suicide. However, evidence found in the house suspects the police to believe she was actually murdered and subsequently arrest her handyman, Scott Brody. But then in flashbacks, we learn the truth … Starring Diana Rigg, John Bowe, Nick Reding, Liz May Brice and Steve Toussaint.

5. Victim. A serial killer is preying on young woman walking alone at night in London. Lucy is very superstitious over the whole situation and keeps a diary of all the victim's, her flat mate, Emily, thinks she's crazy but has second doubts when they soon realise they're eccentric landlord, who 'hates meeting people' is out whenever the killer strikes ... are they living with a psychotic, knife wielding murderer ?? Starring Camilla Power, Neil Stuke, Frances Grey and Lachele Carl.

6. Sleeper. A young student, suffering with chronic sleepwalking, awakens one morning to find a blood covered weapon beside her bed. Did she murder her cheating boyfriend?? Starring Keeley Hawes and Nitin Chandra Ganatra.

Murder in Mind is an excellent drama that can be seen on BBCAmerica. If you enjoy shows like CSI or Law & Order, then Murder in Mind is for you. I have yet to see a comedic, dark or otherwise, episode. This is an excellent show, well-written and usually has a good twist. While watching BBCAmerica, be sure to check out _Waking The Dead_ as well.

A series of one of dramas from the early 2000's, all manner of stories and scenarios, there's only one link, murder.

I can remember The BBC went in strong in terms of advertising, and they went in big with the first episode, casting Poirot himself, David Suchet in the first episode, it certainly set the tone.

Sometimes you just want an hour long, one off drama, this fits the bill, a shame we only get very light dramas, good, but sometimes you just want something a little grittier.

Dark, macabre, bleak, suspenseful and tense, just a few words I'd use to describe it. Arguably if got better as it went on, the final series features some of the best episodes.

It is littered with amazing episodes, I'd argue the best of the lot are Passion, Contract and Suicide. Suicide is the standout episode, it's an incredible piece of drama, with Diana Rigg putting in an incredible performance.

Superbly acted throughout, watch out for the likes of Nicholas Lyndhurst, Adam Faith and Pauline Quirke.

9/10.