If you’re a fan of M.C. Beaton‘s Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series in book format, you’ll be surprised at all the differences the production team/writers have made. The differences are in the characters, definitely not the Cozy setting! Usually I don’t like it when television series take liberties with an author’s characters/settings – but in the case, I very much enjoyed the differences.
The show’s Hamish (the terrific Robert Carlyle) is not at all uncoordinated/lanky, rather a very accomplished outdoors-man. As I watch the shows, I see a Hamish that is smart, thoughtful, and very athletic. There is never any doubt that this police constable will solve the week’s mystery – quite a difference from the Hamish in books. (Yes, I know Hamish solves the mysteries, but the depiction of Hamish sometimes leaves you wondering if he will!)
The series takes place in the coziest of cozy villages in Scotland. It’s the type of place where everyone knows all the other people, even their respective pets!
The Hamish Macbeth TV series is sprinkled with mystical elements. “TVJohn” (played by Ralph Riach) is a clairvoyant whose visions have gotten Hamish out of trouble a few times. The series also includes M.C. Beaton’s books’s love triangle. Isobel (played by the multi-talented Shirley Henderson) and a beautiful author Alexandra (Valerie Gogan) both love Hamish and he can’t quite decide between them … or can he?
Lochdubh has plenty of eccentric characters: a father and son duo who seem to spend most of their time planning small criminal schemes to make them money, a grocery store owner and his secret love (which isn’t a secret to the rest of the village inhabitants), the totally out-of-place doctor who always wears a kilt, and of course, Wee Jock (Hamish’s dog).
The Hamish Macbeth TV mystery series has three seasons (1995-1997) but unfortunately each season only has about six episodes (eight in the third season). This is yet another time I find myself wishing that our (USA) television series would make only six episodes a year and series in New Zealand (Brokenwood), Australia (Miss Fisher Mysteries), Scotland (Hamish Macbeth), and England (Miss Marple, Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, many others) would make as many episodes as they do here!
I don’t want to tell you about any spoilers – but I do want to recommend this show to you. My husband and I are enjoying this show immensely – and it’s the second time for both of us!
P.S. This show is available on the Acorn Channel (I’m watching it through Amazon), at least as of the time of this post.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Hallmark channels are starting their Christmas season in October this year. When I started getting this list together I thought I had made a mistake because the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel’s Christmas movies will be airing on Thursday and Friday nights, rather than the previous years when they aired on Saturday and Sunday nights. I am guessing that they have decided to alternate the nights (keeping the Hallmark Channel’s Christmas movies on Saturday and Sunday nights) so that those of us who enjoy watching the movies “live” can do so. I prefer watching them once I’ve DVR-ed them, so I can skip through the ads… (Also, I know these movies aren’t mystery movies, but I have many people who request that I post these yearly Christmas movies lists.)
Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
