The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Maigret Collection Television Series : Michael Gambon’s Maigret May Not Be French, but He’s Très Magnifique…

If you can get over the obviously British accents coming out of the French characters, then you will surely enjoy the Maigret Collection, a 1990s mystery series that (again) comes to us from the British (Granada Television). Michael Gambon is excellent as Chief Inspector Jules Maigret. He seems to never be in a hurry. He carefully thinks out his cases, and does not rush to judgement. Inspector Maigret has a very psychological approach when it comes to solving crimes, which his underlings (and superiors!) may not fully appreciate… until he solves his crimes.

I did not see this series when it aired on the PBS or A&E networks. Until I did a little research for this blog, I didn’t know that the series had ever aired outside of Great Britain. If you plan to watch all twelve episodes back to back, without the seasons’ division that television networks provide, here is one more thing you will have to overlook……….. It’s a little unfortunate that with only twelve episodes, they were not able to have just one actress to play the Inspector’s wife. At first I wondered if perhaps the second actress was playing a second wife…. not the case. But, if the great Rumpole of the Bailey could have two actresses playing the one and only wife, then so can Maigret!

The one disappointment for me is that Georges Simenon wrote many Maigret novels, so why are there only twelve episodes to this series?!? I sure would have enjoyed more!

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Are You Waiting for Waiting for God?

I have to confess that I absolutely love British comedies. Hyacinth telling Richard to watch out for the pedestrians (two blocks away, no less!) is just as funny to me the first time I see it as it is the tenth. I can watch Keeping Up Appearances over and over, and never get tired of that show. (More on that series later…)

I have chosen to highlight the Waiting for God series because I think that a lot of us who live here in the States have “sort of missed it.” I believe that PBS showed it years ago, and quite frankly, if I saw it then, I didn’t stay with it. Now that I understand the premise of the show, I find it a wonderful way to spend time watching TV. (I must admit that I have not been swept away with any of the current reality shows……. so I don’t know who is dancing with the “stars,” or who is being hired to work for The Donald, or who can sing with even more “stars.”) Both Season One and Season Two of Waiting for God are now available…. And I can’t wait for the rest of the seasons to be released.

The show takes place in a retirement community where Diana Trent (played beautifully by Stephanie Cole), plans on living out her remaining years. Diana is a woman whose life has included all sorts of adventures… she chose her free-wheeling career, while still having a “daughter of sorts” when she was in town visiting her niece.  Diana isn’t cynical or acid-tongued…… she is even more than those words can describe!

Tom Ballard (played wonderfully by Graham Crowden), on the other hand, had a stable, quiet life, and doesn’t seem at all upset by having his son (read: daughter-in-law!) place him at the retirement community. Tom sometimes goes to a world within his head, and sometimes has problems differentiating between his two worlds.

Fortunately for us, Tom and Diana are immediate neighbors, so any time they are outside in their little garden areas, they see each other. This series is very BRITISH….. but not at all mysterious. The only mystery involved is how I missed it when PBS showed it! (Season Three  and Season Four have finally been released!)

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I, Claudius….I Simply Can't Believe This is from the 70s!!!

Everybody who hasn’t seen I, Claudius, raise your hand. Perhaps it would be easier to ask for those who haven’t seen I, Claudius to raise their hands in disbelief that they have missed one of the best (in my opinion) miniseries EVER. My family ranks this miniseries right up there with Upstairs, Downstairs…  Both shows come to us from Great Britain, but have no similarities in the content area. They do, however, have one thing in common………….. They are both phenomenal. Oh, and another thing they have in common…. if you haven’t seen them, you will probably regret it. (I have to admit that the later seasons of Upstairs, Downstairs weren’t on par with the earlier seasons….)

Of course, Derek Jacobi (before he was Sir Derek Jacobi!) is absolutely phenomenal as Claudius. (I know I am not supposed to use the same adjectives over and over, but, is there another word that describes Jacobi’s Claudius more succinctly? Brilliant, Exceptional, Fantastic, …. well, yes, then I could use those words.)

The 13-part miniseries is based on the novel by Robert Graves and the Roman Empire circa 24 BC to 54 AD is the setting. We see the action through Claudius’s narration of events. He is able to outlive many of the members of his family because they think he is a simpleton. (Did I say "many of the members of his family?  I mean "ALL"!!!!!) His grandmother Livia (played by Sian Philips) makes Snow White’s stepmother look like everybody’s favorite auntie.

Claudius is forced to watch the debauchery and ambition of his family members while acting the part of a fool who isn’t aware of all the happenings and goings-on. By being able to quietly observe, almost undetected, he has become a master of what is needed to survive in the cesspool in which his family resides.

Don’t expect the special effects and all of the bells and whistles that miniseries from later years provide…. BUT….. do expect a great story with great acting!  I have seen the miniseries three times, and plan on watching it again….. and again.

(Oh, and by the way, in case you haven’t already guessed…. this is not a cozy…. nor a mystery.)

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Dalziel & Pascoe…. Why No DVDs?

I keep searching around for DVDs of series that were so down-right entertaining to watch that I can’t believe I didn’t set up my trusty VCR years ago. Of course, we no longer watch anything on the VCR machine, so I would have to check to see if my husband has disconnected it. Everything these days is in DVD form…. everything EXCEPT some of my very favorite shows.

I remember watching Dalziel and Pascoe on the A&E Network. It was so many years ago that I don’t even know when it was that I saw the delightful show. I do know, however, that I absolutely loved the show. Colin Buchanan and Warren Clarke were exceptionally well-cast as the two "hero" detectives. Clarke’s portrayal of brash, disgusting, bully-of-an Inspector Dalziel was equaled in it’s perfection with Buchanan’s upper-crust younger and "greener" Inspector Pascoe.

While typing up the 2001 Edgar Awards, I was reminded (once again) of how much I miss having access to this great British show. Did you know that this show won the 2001 Edgar Award for the Best TV Feature/Miniseries? I didn’t even know about the Edgar Awards back then, but I did know that it was a wonderful series, based on a wonderful series of books by Reginald Hill.

I keep checking on Amazon, Blockbusters, and Netflix to see if they have released any of the shows, but no such luck. I hope that they are planning to offer them soon. In the mean time, I have the next best thing………. I am listening to the unabridged books on tape. Although it’s great fun to hear the books, it would be even better to finally have access to DVDs of the shows.

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