Masterful Movie

Lack of good storyline.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Just watched the entire 3 series again for the 3rd time! A brilliant production, which I marked down 1 point only because of a certain inconsistency in quality of plot. Some episodes were truly stunning, and often in very atmospheric settings. Others were rather weaker.Overall stupendous acting, and a moving and compelling relationship between the two main characters. Their interplay alone makes the series worth watching. Both characters are utterly convincing and indeed inspiring as people. There are many duos as detectives, but this is one of the best.Having them detect all around the country is a tad unrealistic, but makes for a great variety of settings, which is fun.Very sorry they stopped it at 3 series. Surely Havers and Lynley would have got together at some stage!

I have now rewatched several of these, and have refined my appreciation. The usual models for these sorts of projects is to distribute the episodes among different directors and screenwriters, assuming that the continuing characters are what matters. This series is different. The producers kept a firm hand on the way the episodes are framed; there is a consistent framework carried from one to the other that understand George's structure perhaps better than she does herself.There is a murder or two. The dynamics of this murder happen in their own word, a world of madness or unraveled anger. The sense behind this is fantastically abstract, and is framed by a sort of soap opera centered on the events and characters that are suspects.A more human, immediate layer — an entire third world — is the soap opera of a quite different nature in the lives of the continuing characters: Lynley and Havers. He is derived from Peter Wimsey, a second order aristocrat engaged in justice for his own reason. He has friends and lovers. Havers is an abrasive young lower class woman, struggling with family issues. This world is layered as well between Lynley and Havers.One can easily imagine George seeing herself as Havers, watching and commenting on Lynley as he tries to understand the dynamics of the world he has entered to solve the crime, and find the embedded "world of motive." This layered narrative format is understood by the producers of the series. Significant attention is paid to camera distance to register intimacy or lack of it. In particular, Havers is always the omphalos of the thing. Sharon Small is the actress who has taken on this central role and she is simply magnificent in it. She has the job of being a person in the thing, but that is an ordinary chore for an actor. She also has to be the observer and observer of the observer as the writer's surrogate. We never lose sight of the fact that this is a novelist's construction and she has included herself in the world as its origin.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

I do admit it is not my absolute favourite of all detective shows, Inspector Morse gets that honour, but The Inspector Lynley Mysteries is a very underestimated and compelling one, made possible by the superb performances of Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small, who play two somewhat mismatched detectives Tom Lynley and Barbara Havers. Their chemistry was very believable and grew in the show's run. All the episodes were very well shot, and the locations were beautiful. The story lines were interesting, some are slower moving than others, and there were one or two disappointing final solutions, but other than those two minor problems the stories are fine. The dialogue is well written and delivered, the banter between Lynley and Havers always working a treat, and the direction of each episode is convincing enough. Overall, a very good detective show, not the best, but the worst? No. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The BBC Series is based on novels by Elizabeth George and original scripts. The stories are about two seemingly mismatched London detectives. He is the polished DI Thomas Lynley the eight Earl of Asherton, and his parter is Barbara Havers a sloppy, working class DS. His colleagues think he is a rich, spoiled, golden boy who is a detective as a hobby. She is thought to be difficult and unmanageable. Both have troubled home lives and both are overly dedicated to their jobs. They bicker and they fight, but all while a real respect grows.I really great series that has yet to get the respect it deserves from the BBC. It is fun to watch this partnership that was thrust upon them by their bosses (with the hopes of getting rid of both of them),click right from the beginning. If you watch it from the pilot "A Great Deliverance" to through to the most recent series, you can see the partners' relationship really develop nicely. In many ways they are more alike them different. Both use the job to avoid the problems in their personal lives. Some even argue that the actor have brought romantic chemistry to the TV show that is not in the books.Really worth seeing.