Murdoch Mysteries | IMDB v2.1

Murdoch Mysteries Oct 5, 2019 12:14:47 GMT

Quote

Post by amyghost on Oct 5, 2019 12:14:47 GMT

Oct 5, 2019 6:39:05 GMT OldSamVimes said:

Oct 3, 2019 16:26:42 GMT amyghost said:

The Father Brown reference intrigues me. Funny you mention that particular series--our local PBS outlet began running it a couple of years ago, and at first I wasn't much impressed by it, but now I've become a regular Sunday afternoon viewer. In terms of length, I find the average 45-minute FB installment sometimes a bit too quick to flesh out the mystery successfully, but the emphasis on character with a dash of humor has come to offset any plot shortcomings.

I'm with you on Midsomer--though I find the characterizations in that one appealing as well, the pacing is sometimes too drawn out: more filler than proper mystery often enough. The writers don't seem to be as skilled as, say, the Columbo writers were in finding the delicate balance of character play and interest in the solution of the puzzle. What you say about Murdoch definitely leaves me with an interest in giving some episodes a tryout, since I've found Youtube has a batch and I can watch them on the old smart telly (ain't technology grand?). There are a couple of the longer 'holiday' episodes in the mix, and I may start out with those.

Do catch Murder Rooms if you have the chance, and we can compare notes at a later time on the two shows.

I grew to like Father Brown a lot too. I enjoyed how that one inspector called him 'Padre' all the time (the funny one), and that he was more interested in the spiritual salvation of people rather than punishment in the legal system.

Murder Rooms looks right up my alley, too bad it's not on Netflix here in Canada right now and it's a bit pricey on Amazon. Maybe some of the episodes are on youtube so I could watch it there.

A few years ago 'Murder She Wrote' was on Netflix for awhile, I just got into about 6 episodes (so many!) then it was removed. Hopefully they'll put that up again soon. I was recognizing some actors of the time from Columbo and other shows. I never watched it when it was on air.

I think my favorite FB inspector was the earliest one I recall seeing, Hugo Speer's Inspector Valentine. He seemed like a worthy opponent, impatient and not taking well to Brown's interference, but intelligent and coming to have a grudging respect for him. Speer was a good actor, he knew how to balance the more comic aspects of the role against a serious demeanor. Tom Chambers' Inspector Sullivan left me cold, he never made much of an impression from what I saw of him. I didn't like Mallory at first, but I'm now beginning to take to him...I had the feeling Jack Deam was having some trouble finding his legs in the part at first, and he was too OTT, but now he's shaping up very well. The business of having Brown more desperate to save the criminal's soul than anything else adds to the drama, and the few times when he's not able to do so are the more striking as a result.

I do miss Alex Price's Sid. He guested on a recent episode, and it made me realize the special touch he added to the show, along with the fact that he and Mark Williams had such good onscreen chemistry together.

I took a quick scan of youtube for Murder Room eps. I think there are whole ones, though they may be in French. I've been wanting to buy the series myself, but since it only went to about four or five installments, it is too expensive right now. (The series was critically acclaimed, but the BBC in its' infinite wisdom, yanked it anyway--proving they're not really all that different from we Americans, lol.) Hopefully someone will get around to putting up the lot in English before long. It's been several years since I saw it, and I'd love to catch it again.

I used to get a kick out of Murder She Wrote for the guest stars, and for Angela Lansbury and William Windom-- a longtime favorite character actor of mine. It's of some interest to note that Father Brown had an American incarnation that ran for a couple of years in the late '80's--only the character was called Father Dowling, as apparently the creators couldn't get the rights to use Chesterton's character's name. He's saddled with an equally sleuth-minded nun, and frankly it wasn't a very good show, but employed something of the Murder She Wrote format. Bosley was okay, but never equaled Lansbury's charisma at all.