The Last Detective: Complete Collection (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)"The Last Detective: The Complete Collection," comprising all 17 episodes of this superior British television mystery series, is now becoming available in the United States for the first time. The series, a subversive police procedural, was made by Granada for the United Kingdom's Independent Television (ITV). It made its debut on British broadcast television in February 2003, and has never been seen on broadcast TV here, which is our loss, as it is an excellent, character-driven production that offers a light-hearted blend of mystery and comedy similar to that of Poirot Investigates: Eleven Complete Mysteries;Blue Murder: Set 3; or Rosemary & Thyme - The Complete Series. The collection comes at a value-packed price, and offers as a bonus, the 1981 treatment, starring Bernard Cribbins, that tells the same story as this series' pilot.
It's based on the "Dangerous Davies" novels of Leslie Thomas. The veteran, highly thought of, everyman looking Peter Davison (Tristan in All Creatures Great & Small - The Complete Series 1 Collection), stars as the title character, Detective Constable Davies (and it's quite a disgrace for an older man to be only a constable!) He works in the totally unimportant, out of the way, North London precinct of Willesden. And he's only the last detective in that he's the last detective his boss would assign to any case, had he his choice in the matter. So Davies gets the least promising cases: yet, in his plodding fashion, he generally does get his man - or woman, as the case may be.
Emma Amos plays his sexy wife, Julie: in the complete collection you will see their relationship go through some changes, as she first throws him out, then takes him back. Sean Hughes, (the guy from Eejit Records in The Commitments (Two-Disc Collector's Edition), plays his freeloading, quirky chum, Mod: we see him go through quite a few career changes in the complete collection, too. Rob Spendlove plays Detective Inspector Aspinall, the station house's tough supervisor. Charles De'Ath as DS Pimlott and Billy Geraghty as DS Barrett add greatly to the flavor of the cop shop; and we get to see the three of them going through changes too. Various well-known actors, such as Sian Philips, Norman Wisdom,David Threlfall and Susan Woordridge, guest star in supporting, but still meaty, roles.
The series manages to be witty and entertaining, yet still intellectually satisfying, with a minimum of onscreen violence. Cinematography is fine, and it's firmly grounded in its North London location. For better or worse, its actors have been encouraged to use that locale's flavorful accent: some may have trouble with it. But it really is a pleasure getting to see all the episodes in sequence, and seeing the characters develop. British mystery lovers: this one's for you.


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Britain\'s bumbling and beloved detective
Detective Constable "Dangerous" Davies always gets the cases no one else wants--and no one notices when he eventually succeeds. But his old-fashioned decency and dogged determination have won him legions of loyal fans. Collected here are all 17 episodes from the hit British mystery series starring Peter Davison (Doctor Who, All Creatures Great and Small), who plays the beleaguered Davies "with a pitch-perfect mix of self-effacement and irritation at the endless slights from crooks and fellow cops alike" (The Baltimore Sun).
Mocked by colleagues at his small London police station and estranged from his wife, he actually listens to advice from his kooky chum Mod (Sean Hughes, The Commitments). Still, Dangerous manages to make connections that the slicker cops miss and shows that underdogs do have their day.
BONUS PROGRAM: Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective, the 1981 movie starring Bernard Cribbins that tells the same story as series pilot.
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE: an interview with Peter Davison, Leslie Thomas bio and booklist, photo galleries, and cast filmographies.

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The Last Detective - Series 4 (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)"The last detective. That's what you are, Dangerous -- the last detective I'll ever think of, unless it's a crap job, see? Then you'll be the first." -- Rob Spendlove as Detective Inspector Aspinall, The Last Detective: Series 1
The Last Detective is a very popular television series in England, and the first volume of the fourth series is just being released tomorrow. Peter Davison plays Constable "Dangerous" Davies, the lowest man on the totem pole inside the detective division of the Willesden constabulary.
Davies is the British Rodney Dangerfield, getting no respect from anybody, neither his colleagues, his wife, nor the people he meets in the course of his duties. The series title comes from Dangerous' boss at the cop shop, whom all call Gov, or Governor. Gov is arrogant, quick to criticize Davies, and just as quick to give Davies' colleagues the better assignments. Gov and Dangerous are constantly at loggerheads because, although Dangerous is the office's patsy, he's also usually the one who picks up on the clues that the others miss, and who follows up on things that should have been followed up on, but weren't. He's also inevitably the one who figures out the perpetrator of the crime of each of the episodes. But Dangerous still gets no respect.
It doesn't come up in the five episodes on this DVD, but there's a good chance that Dangerous got his name because he's dangerous mainly to himself, constantly getting into embarrassingly funny situations at least once per episode. In the opening episode, "Once Upon A Time On The Westway," less than five minutes into the action Dangerous is nearly impaled on the top of a fence he's trying to scale. One of the pointed iron bars manages to tear into his trousers and get him hung up, while the trio who broke into a produce warehouse pelt him with tomatoes, then run off, leaving him hanging there. Sixties and seventies rock music fans will recognize Roger Daltrey of The Who as one of the bad guys, a member of a criminal gang that Dangerous is investigating in connection with a diamond heist. The heist is overtaken by the gang boss being murdered in his own home, then the two cases merge into one.
The second episode, "Dangerous Liaisons," is the story of what seems to be an accidental death. It quickly becomes a murder investigation, which leads to a two-decades old snuff film that everybody is quick to label a fake. Of course it turns out otherwise, drawing Dangerous even deeper into the mystery when he discovers a body buried in the cellar. Dangerous, in spite of his sometimes apparent fecklessness, rapidly narrows the field of suspects. The investigation takes still another turn when the primary suspect quickly becomes the next victim.
The third episode, "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Willesden," opens with a vaudeville type act on stage in a seedy little club. As they're going through their routine, one of them falls dead onstage. Again, it's thought to be a natural causes death until Dangerous takes the time to read the autopsy. The list of suspects is long because, in spite of being into his sixties, the dead comedian had an address book full of women's names in every city on his circuit. Not only does he have a string of girlfriends of all shapes, sizes, and colors, many of them are married, which only broadens the suspect list. Since the method used in the murder was poisoned wine, which he drank onstage, the field narrows somewhat. But it isn't until the last few minutes of the show that somebody who hadn't been a prime suspect is uncovered, again due to Dangerous's efforts.
Episode four, "The Man From Montevideo," opens appropriately with Dangerous walking the small horse that he calls a dog, and being offered a new suit for a great price from the trunk of a man's car. When he shows his cop shop ID, the man takes off running. Dangerous gets his man, but during the chase the man's trunk is being picked clean, thereby blowing the arrest.
The real case for this episode begins right afterward, when the owner of a small fleet of limos gets his throat cut with a broken bottle. The episode closes with Dangerous and his buddy Mod chasing a sheep. In between is an attempted bribe, a bent cop, a threatening boss, and a secret about Mod. How we go from a slit throat to chasing a sheep on a football pitch is a story you'll have to watch. This particular episode was my favorite of the five.
The final episode is "Dead Peasant's Society," and it opens with Dangerous doing a good deed, getting called a pig by the woman he helped, and getting his coffee and sandwich pinched in the process. A typical day for our fearless hero. The real action begins with the very next scene, which takes place in the same type of venue as the last episode closed: on another soccer field. Blood is spilled again, this time by a ceremonial dagger; there's a secret society; Dangerous sees his wife suspiciously leaving the house early, then meeting a strange man on two occasions; and Dangerous's boss is stabbed, as well.
Overall this series is well written, imaginative, and with the right degree of comedy and confusion mingled in. Highly recommended. Special features include an interview with Peter Davison, a Leslie Thomas biography and booklist, and cast filmographies.


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Britain’s most bumbling but beloved detective Things are looking up for Detective Constable "Dangerous" Davies (Peter Davison, Doctor Who, At Home with the Braithwaites). Sure, he still gets the least promising cases in the Willesden constabulary. And he still gets little more than mockery from his colleagues. But his wife Julie (Emma Amos) has taken him back - even though she has to share a house with his quirky, freeloading chum, Mod(Sean Hughes, The Commitments). These five full-length mysteries feature first-rate guest stars, including Kenneth Cranham (Rome), Roger Daltrey (McVicar), and Leslie Phillips (Chancer). Each one rewards you with the gentle humor and captivating intrigue that you’ve come to expect from North London’s most doggedly unglamorous detective.DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE interview with Peter Davison, Leslie Thomas bio and booklist, and cast filmographies.

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