The Commander

TV Movie
2003
2h 25m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Commander Clare Blake has risen to the top of her profession in the male-dominated Metropolitan Police Service and is now the head of the serious crimes unit. Some years previously she arres... Read allCommander Clare Blake has risen to the top of her profession in the male-dominated Metropolitan Police Service and is now the head of the serious crimes unit. Some years previously she arrested James Lampton for murder. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison but is now o... Read allCommander Clare Blake has risen to the top of her profession in the male-dominated Metropolitan Police Service and is now the head of the serious crimes unit. Some years previously she arrested James Lampton for murder. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison but is now out on parole and is a successful author with a best-selling book. Blake's colleagues howev... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

780

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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User reviews33

6.6780

Featured reviews

3mrblixxx

Seriously ?!

Moments of intensity followed by gross abuse of the viewer by having the Commander of an elite police unit fall under the spell of a convicted murderer. WOULD NOT EVER HAPPEN, NOT EVER, NOT IN THIS UNIVERSE !!! I will be writing the producer as well. They should watch good murder mysteries and then at least copy them !

3tallpaul-43770

No one this stupid could become a Commander at Scotland Yard

It's the first movie or tv show I've seen where I kept saying "stupid" or "you're so stupid" out loud. Noone this clueless could possibly have risen to the job of commander.

I generally love police procedurals. This one was awful, because of its premise.

3MrTroy

Not credible and uninteresting to watch

Usually I like Amanda Burton's acting, honestly. But accepting this role was a complete mistake.

The Commander in this series does everything a good cop wouldn't do. She garbles evidence and sleeps with suspects. On top of that, she has a huge ego. Now, ordinarily this wouldn't kill a series - it would maybe even be an interesting touch.

The problem, however, is: this is about all the series has to offer. Obviously the title "The Commander" wasn't a misnomer for this one; the commander is all the series is about. No interesting crime or mystery, just this commander being a disgrace for the whole British police. It's not credible that a person like this would ever become a commander and moreover, it's not interesting to watch.

As an alternative title I suggest "The Clare Blake show".

6samthejudgeamos

Having watched all of them

Really like Lynda LaPlante's writing, I find Amanda Burton really easy to watch so thought this would be great right?

Some were excellent and engaging, I couldn't stop watching but...

Come on who as a senior police officer jumps in the sack with some psychopathic ex con who she herself put away 12 years ago? Any copper I have ever met is generally a great judge of character and recognises a nutter (see what I did there). Yet apparently she thinks it's fine.

That aside, the acting was all pretty good, a few bits staged slowly for effect which made them feel clunky but overall an easy watch, especially when each of the paired episodes could be watched stand alone easily enough (my stupid streaming app started me in series three and it didn't feel awful going back to one once I spotted it.

1jlshopping

What utter crap!

Another reviewer said this started as a police drama and ended as a Harlequin romance. So true! It's hard to believe that Lynda LaPlante wrote this garbage. Although "Lynda LaPlante" does sound like the pen name of a sleazy romance writer....

LaPlante's Prime Suspect was one of our favorite series, and of course anything that Helen Mirren is in is automatically worth watching. But Amanda Burton is not in her league, and never will be. At least Hugh Bonneville went on to do something worth watching with Downton Abbey.

Give it a pass; it isn't worth a couple of hours of your life. Actually, it wasn't worth the time it took me to write this review.

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Trivia
When the commander arms herself, with her private handgun, she has a Walther. It's either the larger PP, or the smaller frame, PPK. The pistol is chambered for a .380 caliber round, also known as a kurz-9 (in German) or short-9, meaning a shorter case than the standard 9mm round.

Goofs
The commander wears the ribbon of the Police Exemplary Service Medal on her uniform. She states that she has served for 20 years. Before 2016 the qualifying period for the medal was 22 years, so she is not entitled. The action takes place in 2002. In that year police officers (amongst others) with at least 5 years' service were awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, and she does not wear that ribbon, to which she is entitled.