The Black Tower - Part One

Excellent program - Pity the rank of Police Sargent Kate Miskins uniform shows the rank of Police Inspector (Two pips) instead of Chevrons.

Looking forward to the next adaptation of Dalgliesh.

The plot was very good although in the novels Dalgleish is now a Commander and not Detective Chief Inspector. Also Sergeant Miskin is repeatedly called Sergeant but she is wearing an Inspecor's two pips on her shoulders.

This kind of lack of attention to detail is very off putting hence only 5 stars.

After last weeks terrific opener I found this pretty tedious.

Bertie Carvel is excellent as Dalgleish but I have always found Stephen Mackintosh a difficult watch. He is always playing the same character, so not much acting involved.

You have to like the characters, or at least some of them, but this drama was made up up of a pretty dour ensemble.

I couldn't help but feel we were in the realms of political correctness as it was a bit of a diversity fest.

Dalgliesh sets off to visit a friend of his, a man of the cloth, but when he arrives, he learns his friend has died, as has another man, the latter was murdered.

Super impressed once again, this proves that last week's opener wasn't just a fluke, there is real quality to this show. It looks fantastic, but the content is equal to the visuals, the second killing was a very unsettling scene.

Another very faithful adaptation, sure there are a few changes from the book, but overall the core of it is very much there. I've been impressed by how much they chose to stick to James's original ideas.

Stephen Mackintosh was terrific here, the acting all round was impressive. Bertie Carvel has settled in super quickly.

This was superb.

9/10.

I thought Adam Dalgliesh as played by Bertie Carvel was rather too subdued in the first story. The second story The Black Tower sheds some light on this.

Dalgliesh is getting over the death of his wife and daughter. Hence why he has writer's block when it comes to writing poetry.

You sense this is foreshadowing for that will happen later on. There is a lot that is laid out in the opening minutes as the characters are introduced soon after a man was pushed off a cliff in his wheelchair.

Adam Dalgliesh has travelled to a care home called Toynton Grange to visit Father Michael, an elderly friend. Only to learn that he died some weeks earlier.

However this now is the second death relating to this care home run by Brother Wilfred Antsey, a christian spiritual advisor who runs the home very strictly.

Dalgliesh opts to stick around despite Antsey wanting to get rid of him. He talks to the residents and the workers in the care home. He learns that the care home might be up for sale and the residents are due to go to their annual pilgrimage to Lourdes soon.

However there is another death. Once again it is made to look like natural causes or suicide like the previous deaths.

The fun in the first part of the story is to watch out for the obvious suspects and who is lurking in the shadows. You can sense there are likely to be a few more deaths but it was nice to mull around the clues in my head and see how they all link.