Friday , March 29 2024
Prime British mystery with some classic bickering tossed in for good measure.

DVD Review: Dalziel and Pascoe – Season 6

There are those who say that opposites attract. In the case of the lead characters in the British mystery series Dalziel and Pascoe, there isn’t any sort of sexual magnetism goin’ on here (thank God), but there is a heap of chemistry. And that’s because Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel (Warren Clarke) and Detective Inspector Peter Pascoe (Colin Buchanan) are so completely different in their mannerisms — as well as their take on life — that they manage to get along quite well. Well, on the job, that is. But what happens when these two fellows have to pull The Odd Couple routine in Dalziel and Pascoe: Season 6?

Yes, our poor pedantic Pascoe has been abandoned by his ever-adoring wife and daughter — who have since moved to the United States (mind you, this series aired nearly two months after 9/11, so the relocation to America is obviously not supposed to sound like a cheery one). This, of course, leaves him but one option: to move in with his case-hardened partner-in-justice, DS Dalziel. Oh, the horror. But it’s not as horrific as some of the murder cases these two encounter here. We begin with the suspicious death (translation: homicide!) of a gifted young musician — who turns out to be the son of a woman Dalziel ran over in a high-speed chase years before! Talk about a wow moment.

Additional cases find our heroes investigating the murder of a Sikh woman whose death causes racial pressure upon the community (which is always no bueno — just check out the 2012 elections), a dead lawyer (which undoubtedly makes butchers named Dick everywhere smile), and an unearthed skeleton that brings out many more skeletons — even from Dalziel’s own closet. BBC Home Video brings us this, the sixth of twelve series in total from the long-running mystery programme, to DVD in a barebones two-disc/four-episode set that presents this oft-gloomy series with a decent transfer and no special features.

If you’re in the mood for some prime British mystery with some classic bickering tossed in for good measure, you should definitely give Dalziel and Pascoe: Season 6 a whirl.

About Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the alter-ego of a feller who loves an eclectic variety of classic (and sometimes not-so-classic) film and television. He currently lives in Northern California with four cats named Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Margaret. Seriously.

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