Brenda Woodward

I found this series 'awkward', and difficult to watch. It is nasty, the mc is a completely unlikeable character. Maybe the director told her to play it OTT, because she certainly does that. Everyone has an axe to grind in thisTV production. They all seem angry and a little bit crazy. I am three quarters of the way through episode two and I am not certain I can continue to watch it. I like crime noir but this seems to be nasty for the sake of it. I may return to this review, who knows it might get better but that's all I can watch right now.

The 2025 version of Bergerac is not working for me. I have had enough of anxt driven detectives, burdened by grief and loss. I also found it difficult to like any of the characters. The team was not a team, filled with jealous overtones, bending the truth, not having each others back. Then there was the nagging mother-in-law, acting true to type - rich, bored, looking down her nose. Determined to gain control of her granddaughters welfare (adding to the MC's woes). The story itself was elongated (as my review may very well be too). It was bitty and sometimes incoherent. Although I persevered with watching this series I ended up letting it run in the background whilst I did other stuff. John Nettles may not be the best actor in the world but he brought something lively and wholesome to the screen which is sadly lacking in this new version of Bergerac.

I gave it a 3 star rating because it was watchable but I wasn't impressed with the acting. By the end of series I I really wanted to smack the Anita character around the face and I am not a violent person. In fact I have never even smacked my child and she is grown up now. The Anita character in my opinion was marred by 'over acting'. Too much tantrum like behaviour, there are other ways to show your anger and vent your feelings none of these were displayed and it spoiled the otherwise good plot/story line. Without giving away too much of the story, Gusti needed to grow some, and the appearance of his wife was weird to say the least.

Overall this series held my attention, however I found the lead actor very annoying. Perhaps she was instructed to play a stupid copper as some of the statements she made and her belligerent attitude made me cringe. I also have this thing about women with really short hair. Samson and Delila in reverse, the MC came across as weak and I felt like she should grow some... The plot line was credible and I will definitely watch Black Work if they make a second series.

I thought Death in Paradise was bad enough but this programme is worse. Apart from it being excruciatingly boring I find myself cringing over the acting. Kris Marshall gives nothing to the part and overdoes the 'uh! I'm a duh brain but I am really brilliant at solving crimes.' His fiancé is even worse, acting surprised that she is a suspect when even the slowest brain would have worked that out from the start. The extras get on my nerves as well, they do not complement the main characters and seem to have difficulty finding a credible reason for being. I must remind myself not to watch it when I have run out of other series like the Walter Presents ones to watch..

I had problems with series 1 - episodes 1 and 2. Emma - the love interest just didn't gel and that put me off Dalgliesh. I found myself wondering how an intelligent insightful man would go for someone who appeared as weak, easily manipulated and slow on the uptake...The best friend was another strange glitch in the storyline. This friend seemed to rule over Emma, ordering her about and lying to her, yet when Emma discovers she had deceived her she still gives her a letter to deliver to Dalgliesh (I don't think so...). Some of the other characters also came across as 'out of context' and unrealistic according to their setting. Perhaps the cast was ill-chosen and interpreted their parts unsympathetically, who knows. What I do know is that this put me off the storyline which, I have to confess, didn't really hold my attention.

I am not a fan of uptight, violent about to erupt characters who are also occupying the position of detective or other similar law keepers. I am sorry, but the two do not mix, it is too distracting and confuses the viewer/reader. Marcella is unconvincing; there is nothing likeable or even remotely understandable about her characterisation. I feel that Anna Friel has overplayed ‘Marcella’, and halfway through Series 1, I almost gave up watching. The action moves in fits and starts, sometimes things jog along at a reasonable pace for a while and then there is an outburst, which seems to come out of nowhere. Characters do things out of character, which don’t make sense and don’t add to the storyline except to make you think ‘Huh! What was all that about?’ Series 1 dragged on and on – into Series 2 where we find that none of our characters show any signs of improvement, in fact, they all seem to get depressingly worse. The Serial Killer turns out to be someone who most people dislike but there were no signs during his youth or adult years of what he would become, he even has a real best friend. I am also fed up with the children of police/detectives turning out bad and then the action centring on how the parents handle it or don’t handle it and the chaos that ensues which results in laws being broken, rules bent and solutions found. There are a lot of nasty things lurking in the background in Marcella and I think I have had enough of them for a while. Overall, the series was watchable but I think I will only watch another series of this programme if I have nothing better on offer at that time.

I used to love this show but now, unfortunately, I rarely watch it. I have developed an aversion to Lucy's replacement Martina Maxwell. I find that I am unable to watch the programme with the sound turned on as something about Maxwell's voice grates on my nerves. I am also developing an aversion to her mannerisms and this is detracting from my ability to take in what is happening on the show with regard to the 'homes under the hammer'. I hope that her contract with the show is a short one.