Dalziel & Pascoe: Season 3

The screenplay faithfully reflects author Reginald Hill’s writings, and the acting is superb, in all four episodes recorded on these DVDs. The cinematics are beautiful. The dialogue is realistic, although it would help most American viewers to turn on subtitles, and to learn a little about the slang terminology used in the vicinity of Yorkshire. Still, I had little trouble understanding what was taking place. There are four episodes in Season 3.The first episode (Under World) is set in a coal mining village in Yorkshire. A little girl was murdered 4 years earlier, and an injured miner who was no longer working in the “pits” due to the seriousness of his injuries disappears at the same time, along with his beloved dog. Because he vanished without a trace, he is, naturally, the prime suspect in the murder of the little girl. The now-retired Deputy Chief Constable who was in charge of the case closed it on the assumption that the missing miner was the perpetrator. The miner’s son, Colin, also now works in the mines, and he takes a night class taught by Ellie Pascoe at the university. Ellie is Detective Inspector Peter Pascoe’s wife. She is teaching an adult course on English mining literature. She strikes up a friendship with Colin that nearly exceeds the boundaries set for married women. More murders occur, and Pascoe is homing in on the killer when he becomes injured and trapped in the mine. This episode was better than the book, which I had previously reviewed and awarded four stars. This episode rated a full five stars in my view. To repeat myself, I have read all of the author’s Dalziel & Pascoe novels, and I have reviewed all of them. I have mentioned the actors in a review I published for Season 2, so I won’t repeat them here.The second episode is titled “Child’s Play.” The story begins at the funeral of an old woman whose son disappeared in Italy during WWII. Her will is being contested by both members of her family, and by a man who represents an English charity. A mysterious stranger shows up at the funeral, only to be found shot to death in his car in the police parking lot. Is he the missing long-lost son? That is part of the mystery in this episode, in which Detective Sergeant Wield (Wieldy) comes out of the closet as a gay man. He becomes intimate with a young man who shows up at his door seeking a place to sleep, and they soon have a falling out. The young man is found murdered alongside the road, and Wieldy becomes a suspect. At the same time, Dalziel has a new boss who is a devout Christian who cannot abide homosexuality. He wants Dalziel to identify the gay member of his force so that the Deputy Chief Constable can root him out. By the end of the episode, all of the questions have been answered, the murders have been solved, and the loose ends have been tied up. This show was particularly well done, even better than the book. I rate it five stars.The third episode, “Bones and Silence” is a story about a series of murders involving a construction company owner and an architect. It begins when Dalziel sees a woman struggling with a man with a gun in the window of the apartment across the street from his residence. He runs across the street and breaks in, but he is too late to prevent the death of the woman, who is shot in the face and killed as Dalziel is climbing the stairs. There are two men in the room, one of whom is the victim’s husband. Both men insist that the woman was bent on suicide, and she was accidently shot during the struggle to wrest her gun away from her.Simultaneously in the plot, a noted actress is preparing to present a religious play in the local cathedral, and she picks Dalziel to play the part of God. But Dalziel is also receiving neatly typed anonymous letters threatening suicide. He assigns Pascoe to the task of determining who it is. Pascoe and his wife, Ellie, believe the letters are being written by a woman, but they do not know who — until it is too late. We also meet Police Constable Seymour in this episode, but he seems to not play a major role. Eventually, two bodies are recovered from beneath the pavement at the new police parking lot that was designed by the architect, and built by the construction company. All loose ends are tied up at the end of the episode, but viewers who have not read the book might not be able to understand everything that is going on, Still, it is a very good episode worthy of four stars.The fourth episode is titled “The Wood Beyond.” The opening scene is the wedding day of Peter Pascoe’s grandparents in 1915. Peter’s grandmother is pregnant, and his grandfather is marching off to fight World War I with the Yorkshire Volunteers. Grandad becomes a stretcher bearer who soon begins to suspect one of the doctors at the field hospital, a captain, of deliberately killing wounded soldiers by injecting them with a lethal poison in an attempt to perfect a new drug. Pascoe’s grandfather becomes wounded, himself, and is sent back to a military hospital in Yorkshire where he meets the same doctor. He then disappears from the face of the earth.The scene moves quickly to the present-day story line, which involves a group of women activists who hijack a truck in order to gain access to a pharmaceutical research facility. They engage in serious vandalism, including releasing all of the research animals. They are led by Amanda “Cap” Marvell, a nickname acquired from her admirers comparing her amazing capabilities to those of the comic book character “Captain Marvel.” While the other women are busy releasing the animals, Cap sneaks into the office area and copies data from a computer onto a floppy diskette. Then she escapes into the woods, where she stumbles, sprains her ankle, and discovers human bones. The vandalism case has turned into a murder investigation.The WWI scenes are tied to the present by Peter Pascoe reading letters written by his long lost grandfather to his grandmother in 1915. His grandmother has recently passed away, and Peter and Ellie have traveled to her home town to attend the funeral. There, Peter discovers the old letters and begins to read them. While he is reading, we are visually treated to the scenes that are being described in the letter. According to “official” military records, Peter’s grandfather deserted his unit and disappeared, never to be seen again. His uniform was found on the docks in Liverpool, and he was presumed to have fled to America. Peter’s grandmother never believed that, and neither does Peter, so he sets out to learn what really happened to his grandfather.The two plot lines come together near the end of the episode, when it is discovered that the good doctor’s grandson is following in the footsteps of his grandfather, sacrificing human lives in the name of medical science. Both Pascoe and Dalziel home in on the suspect at the same time, following different trails of clues, and different methods of investigation.This is a beautifully produced, directed and acted TV show. I enjoyed it very much. It is very faithful to the original novel by Reginald Hill. Even though the plot is complex, it was clearly portrayed in the TV episode, which is saying a lot. This was clearly the best episode of Season 3, and I award it five stars.These shows represent the best of British television, and I highly recommend them. Because of the overall quality of the four episodes, and especially due to Episode 4, I award this set of DVDs five stars. Highly entertaining, and highly recommended.

"Nowt I like better than a light lunch. Except mebbe a heavy one" (Hill 2008:375). Detective Superintendent Inspector Andy Dalziel doesn't fit his manly girth inside a "chocolate-box" mystery confection. He's salt-of-the-earth, a Borgnine kinda guy, chewy as the yeast in fine Yorkshire bottle-conditioned ale, with quirks and low-brow toughness. I've read all of Reginald Hill's wonderful, erudite Dalziel & Pascoe mysteries. Warren Clarke is fun as the natural force that is Andy Dalziel, and Colin Buchanan is his perfect foil as Detective Inspector Peter Pascoe. David Royle is perfect as Detective Sergeant Wield. Regarding Wieldy, Andy Dalziel says, "if yon's the first face you see on the morning, you don't need Jeeves's fancy hangover cure" (Hill 2008:166). The Yorkshire setting adds to the rich viewing experience, and by Season Four, the music (dated horns straight out of the 1970s/80s) changes much for the better.Underworld: This was one of Reginald Hill's best mystery novels, unfortunately, this is not a great adaption of  Under World: #10 Dalziel & Pascoe , too much show and not enough tell. The lack of narrative power is odd, considering the fine material in the novel, where the depths of the mining underworld is lyrically described, its darkness, history, and complexity. I've lived in western mining towns, the Hill's book does the subject justice. Despite this, you can't miss this episode, which explores class-conflict and clashes between idealist Ellie and her husband, Inspector Peter Pasco. The Jack Russell terrier is a treat. The book featured Dalziel lending his generous strength to an injured Peter, sadly, this is also missing here. To be fair, had I not read the book, I might have enjoyed this more.Child's Play: Who made who, to paraphrase the wise bards ACDC. A self-righteous sort becomes Andy's supervisor, with great dialogue between him and his coworkers. Fat Andy protects his men, including Inspector Wield, who loves Victorian adventure novelist H. Rider Haggard, while living a secretive personal life. Beware the bulldog.Bones and Silence: Perhaps the only episode where the music is appropriate, given the nauseous swinging of light. Dalziel plays God and unmasks the devil, in a very clever, satisfying denouement.The Wood Beyond: This mystery is superb, could stand alone as a movie. It explores Peter Pascoe's family history, and the tragedy of World War I. This does honor to the fallen, and Remembrance Day. Deftly, the narrative weaves between past and present, two mysteries linked together: why did Pascoe's grandfather disappear, and why is there a body in the woods, discovered by animal rights activists. "Wine, puss, puss?" says secret cat-lover Detective Superintendent Inspector Andy Dalziel. He meets his match in the voluptuous, tough "Cap" Marvel. Enjoy!

In my previous review of Season two (2) of this splendid British detective/mystery series of Dalziel & Pascoe, I stated that I felt the two main characters as brilliantly played by Warren Clark (Dalziel) and Colin Buchanan (Pascoe) had "jelled" into a wonderfully effective crime solving team. In Season three (3) of this BBC series on two (2) discs with four (4) episodes with each episode running about an hour and a half each, my feeling about the previous season is proven again because Dalziel & Pascoe are really a good team solving some very well written dastardly crimes so very well.Yes, Dalziel and Pascoe continue to be as different as "night and day". Dalziel is still very crude and appearing to be very uncouth but with a very intuitive mind at solving "who done it" mysteries and not afraid to be not "politically correct" or not afraid to ask some nasty and very blunt questions of a suspect while Pascoe remains to be very well educated and debonair with a more analytical, thoughtful and diplomatic approach to solving a crime always being totally respectful of the suspect,Season three (3) has some very good mysteries that kept me stumped until "all was revealed" plus this season is really acted very fine indeed. I just love this series and look forward to future releases.(Please note that the episode entitled "Child's Play" is very good being filled with loads of humor along with very good murder/mysteries involving a "closeted" gay cop, a very sinister house keeper, and some money grabbing and conniving relatives along with a long dead corpse in a cellar, etc.)

I eventually purchased all the movies in this series and am expecting the latest any day now. Fine casting and good plots. Perhaps because I am British they appeal to me because they are very British, which I realize may not be to everyones taste. I was very pleased that the series is subtitled, all British accents not being the same. A series I would recommend without a doubt for all who appreciate the British crime genre and wish for something a bit grittier than the Midsomer Murders series. ( Another series I can recommend!)

Love British mysteries!!!! I got so tired of American chases and shoot-outs where everyone looks like they stepped out of a beauty salon.Dalziel is so sarcastic but won't back down from anyone! Highly recommended!!!

Product was as expected and works well. Arrived on time and intact.

Best series!!

This four disk set contain the entire third series of Dalziel And Pascoe. Starring Warren Clarke (The Invisibles) and Colin Buchanan (The Pale Horse) The episodes in this set are Underground, Child's Play, Bones And Silence and The Wood Beyond. The episodes have english language options with removable subtitles. Being a Dutch import the packaging in in Dutch language but don't let that put you off.Like the Silent Witness dvds the UK releases seem to have stopped with series two. At least we can still buy the Dutch release through Amazon. Now lets hope that the rest of this excellent series is released soon.