Darby and Joan

This show is set in the cinematically gorgeous Australia. It has the feel of a Cotswold set village mystery show. Joan and Darby starts with an out of water English woman piecing together The W's of her husband's death thousands of miles from where he was supposed to be. Of course through a timely by chance situation/encounter she connects with a retired detective who had gone "walk about" for several reasons I won't spoil.

Set in an RV instead of some cottage we get a love letter to the beauty of the Aussie landscape. Nothing is major or truly sinister about the mysteries. They're episodic adventures as we are taken along the journey with Joan and Darby as they piece together her husband's hidden story.

This isn't an edgy show but it does touch on a few subjects especially grief, forgiveness and making amends. There are many familiar faces of great Aussie actors to be found in this season and I hope to see more in a season 2. There are some acting misses in the supporting cast but I don't believe it was designed to sweep up awards.

I would like to commend the show for not being artificially woke. It is naturally inclusive and contemporary without detracting from the story telling. It represents people as people in a manner of fact way with no explanations necessary(as it should be) unless relevant to the story.

Australia is vast country with so much more to explore. This first season only scratched the surface of the culture and country. Hopefully we get more seasons and we get to explore everything from Sydney to Perth and First Peoples to Bogans.

The pace of this series is amazing - there's plenty of intrigue to keep you watching but the beautiful scenery calms things down again. I prefer mysteries like this ie without (much) death but there aren't many around - the main other being 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' (AKA kLost Letter Mysteries'). My only gripe with D&J is that for much of the season, there's a 'straight marriage is crap but gay marriage's always perfect' vibe, which is obv v unrealistic. I hope they go ahead with S2 as set up in the S1 finale - TV needs more cross-generational shows, especially where the older characters take the lead.

I happened upon this show on my Acorn subscription. I wasn't expecting anything, because I had never heard of any of the actors, however, it caught my interest and I have been enjoying it very much. I think the key is that it is an easy show to watch. There is the main mystery unravelling around Joan's husband which is an ongoing plot point. And then there are small mysteries in each episode that get concluded by the end of the episode while simultaneously revealing more information about Joan's husband. The writing is good. The characters, although sometimes unusual, seem real and interesting. The drama doesn't become annoying by watching the characters self sabotage themselves at every turn like most of the soap opera'ish series I've seen. The scenery is awesome, although some of the dangerous species in Australia are concerning. ;-).

Anyone looking for the extreme detail and meticulous clue gathering of a CSI show will be disappointed. Most of the plots are rather simple and solved with minimal sleuthing, but that is part of the shows charm. Even the dangerous encounters won't get you too far onto edge of your seat as the criminals give up the goods rather easily, so the show is light hearted in that regard.

Anyway, I'm enjoying it and would like to see another few seasons.

Not blood, gore and sex ... but GREAT chemistry. Absolutely LOVE the interaction between Greta & Bryan. Beautiful and handsome - NOT the fake beauty on American TV. We love it. Each show is good and builds towards the conclusion but also, THANKFULLY, toward another season. Takes advantage of the scenery and culture of Australia and Queensland. Interesting supporting characters in each episode. PLEASE keep the seasons coming. I can see these two characters together for many seasons and it would not be boring watching the relationship grow. LOVE LOVE LOVE Bryan Brown and the REAL mature Greta Scacchi! THANK YOU.

Darby And Joan is a heartwarming series with two likeable and intelligent leads doing some amateur sleuthing while trying to solve the mystery surrounding Joan's husband who was found dead in Australia when he was ostensibly in Spain. Joan is English, a nurse and, while there a few "fish out of water" tropes these are few and she's no fool. Jack Darby is the laconic, emotionally stunted Aussie bloke, but there is more to him than that. He just doesn't want to overshare. Some great cameos from familiar Aussie actors and fantastic scenery to boot. If you want some light viewing with an overarching engaging narrative I can highly recommend this series. I hope there is a season 2.