Foyle's War: Set Six Review

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(More customer reviews)For those wondering what this is: It's the continuation of the series, post war. Foyle is back on the job dealing with the lawlessness that plagued England as the country tried to rebuild. Still created by Anthony Horowitz and still starring Michael Kitchen and Honeysuckle Weeks, this was filmed in 2009 and will air on ITV in England during April of 2010. If it is recieved as well as sets 1-5, then the series will continue to be produced. In an unprecidented move, ITV is attempting to make up for the terrible decision to cut the original series short, and end it abruptly. They are hoping it hasn't lost it's audience. The DVD will be released in August 2010.
Here is a synopsis of Series 7, (set 6).
It is June 1945 and while VE Day has been celebrated in Britain, the war continues elsewhere in the world. The immediate aftermath of war was not a time of jubilation and optimism, as had been expected. The country was exhausted and poverty-stricken, families torn apart and rations tighter than ever before. Like everyone else, Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle needs to feel his way in this new world as he faces some of his toughest challenges and gripping plots to date. Keen to retire, but bound to his old job by the steep rise in violent crime that swept the country, Foyle is thrust into the dangerous worlds of international conspiracy and execution, military racism and national betrayal.
The Russian House:
CS Foyle stumbles upon an international cover up, which, if exposed could bring down the British government, and reveal the War Office's darkest secret yet.
Killing Time:
Foyle goes head to head against the might of the US army, as racial prejudices erupt when a local girl is found murdered, and the finger of suspicion points to a black GI at the US military base.
The Hide:
The newly retired Foyle battles to save a young man accused of high treason from the executioner's noose, in a case that will shatter his personal world to the core...
[...]

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One man fights his own battle against everyday evil--in extraordinarily dangerous times
"Outstanding" --The New York Times
Returning for a three-episode encore, this enormously popular, award-winning mystery series stars Michael Kitchen (Out of Africa) as Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Foyle, a police investigator in the British coastal community of Hastings. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Foyle finds his longed-for retirement interrupted by cases involving international intrigue, military racism, and an accused traitor all too willing to go to the gallows.
Also starring Honeysuckle Weeks and Anthony Howell, and featuring Max Brown, Christopher Good, Tim Pigott-Smith, Charlotte Riley, Sam Spruell, Andrew Scott, David Yelland, and Anastasia Hille.
THE MYSTERIESTHE RUSSIAN HOUSE--The escape of a Russian POW sets off a chain of events that leads to murder and rekindles a conflict between Foyle and his former subordinate.KILLING TIME--With African American GIs waiting to return Stateside, racial tension, jealousy, and greed combine to create a potentially explosive situation in Hastings. THE HIDE--As DI Milner investigates the murder of a young woman in Brighton, Foyle probes the motives of an accused traitor who refuses to defend himself.

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Midsomer Murders: Set 15 (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)While I am thrilled that in 2010 Acorn is giving us an extra release of Midsomer Murders, I am disappointed that the second set of the year only includes three episodes:
Ep. 60 Shot at Dawn (or. broadcast Jan 1, 08)
Ep. 61 Blood Wedding (or. broadcast Jul 6, 08)
Ep. 62 Left For dead (or. broadcast Jul 20, 08)
Which means in the US we are still running two years behind the original broadcast. Still, the consolation is that in Blood Wedding we finally get to see Cully marry her Simon. And as a special treat, there is a guest appearance from Gavin Troy (Barnaby's original sidekick)! I think the series did loose a little heart and humour with Gavin's departure and I will be very happy to see this character return, if only for one episode.
A side note: August 19th, 2010 will be John Nettles' last day of filming on Midsomer Murders. His run as Barnaby will end with episode 82, likely not due in the US until 2013, ghhrr... Reportedly, DS Ben Jones and Dr Bullard are staying on. ITV is mum on who is replacing Nettles, though wild rumours are circulating that it could even possibly be a she, rather then a he...
UPDATE (Feb 10, 2010): Nettles' replacement has finally been revealed. I have included the details in Set 16 review.
PS: For those new to this British masterpiece, Midsomer Murders is a long running "who done it", based on the novels of Caroline Graham, starring John Nettles (of the Bergerac fame) as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby. The series is set in the fictional Misomer County, which comprises of many cosy, rural villages, where wealthy and poor alike seem to do each other in at an average rate of three to four bodies per episode. The series has a worldwide following, not in the least due to the creative and macabre ways in which the MM victims are typically dispatched.

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WHAT EVIL LURKS BEYOND THE WELL-TRIMMED HEDGES OF MIDSOMER…
The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in these contemporary British television mysteries. Inspired by the novels of Caroline Graham, modern master of the English village mystery, the series stars John Nettles (Bergerac) as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, with Jason Hughes (This Life) as his earnest, efficient protégé, Detective Sergeant Ben Jones. Guest stars include Daniel Casey, Samantha Bond, Donald Sinden, Malcolm Sinclair, Maggie Steed, and George Cole.
THE MYSTERIES Blood Wedding -- Cully’s wedding day is fast approaching, but a series of bizarre murders at an upper-class wedding leave Barnaby distracted.Shot at Dawn -- A long-standing family feud erupts into violence after a disgraced soldier’s name is placed on a World War I memorial. Left for Dead -- Barnaby discovers a potential link between a double murder and a decades-old disappearance in the sleepy town of Dunstan.
Bonus disc: Super Sleuths, a documentary about Midsomer Murders in which John Nettles, Caroline Graham, Anthony Horowitz, and others reflect on the show’s first decade.

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Midsomer Murders: Set 16 Review

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(More customer reviews)The third and final 2010 US release of Midsomer Murders, contains four episodes:
Ep 63 Midsomer Life broadcast Jul 13, 2008
Ep 64 The Magician's Nephewb. Jul 27, 2008
Ep.65 Days of Misruleb. Dec 24, 2008 Christmas Special
Ep.66 Talking to the Deadb. Aug 05, 2008
(episode numbers may be off by one, as the original broadcast dates vary depending on source)
After close to 200 murders, I thought all possible ways of "dispatch" have been explored. Not so. The inventive MM writers manage to surprise again, as they introduce South American poison-dart frogs as a new murder weapon (in The Magician's Nephew)!
But, on to the good stuff:
As most are aware by now, John Nettles (66) is leaving the show in August this year. His last appearance will be in ep.82. His replacement has finally been revealed! The episode airing tonight on British TV (ep.75 The Sword of Guillaume) will see a new character introduced: John Barnaby, Tom Barnaby's nephew, will arrive in Midsomer, to help with a case while Tom is away. He will eventually take over as DCI, when Tom retires. The character is played by Neil Dudgeon (49), a hard working British TV actor, with a few screen films behind his belt; you may have seen him as Joshua in the 2008 comedy The Son of Rambow. So, there you have it! Only time will tell how the replacement works out. Most comments, regarding the actor's potential to succeed in Midsomer, have so far been positive. Taking into consideration the speed of Acorn releases in the US, we will have to wait till 2013 before we can judge for ourselves...
PS: For those new to this British masterpiece, Midsomer Murders is a long running "who done it", based on the novels of Caroline Graham, starring John Nettles (of the Bergerac fame) as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby. The series is set in the fictional Misomer County, which comprises of many cozy, rural villages, where wealthy and poor alike seem to do each other in at an average rate of three to four bodies per episode. The series has a worldwide following, not in the least due to the creative and macabre ways in which the MM victims are typically dispatched.

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The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in these contemporary British television mysteries. Inspired by the novels of Caroline Graham, modern master of the English village mystery, the series stars John Nettles (Bergerac) as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, with Jason Hughes (This Life) as his earnest, efficient protégé, Detective Sergeant Ben Jones. Guest stars include Tim Pigott-Smith, Ronald Pickup, Pooky Quesnel, Simon Williams, Anton Lesser, Tom Goodman-Hill, Niamh Cusack, and Judy Parfitt.
THE MYSTERIES:Midsomer Life--After the unpopular editor of a local magazine is found dead, Barnaby stumbles upon a nest of bribery, adultery, and secrets kept too long.
The Magician’s Nephew--Barnaby must determine if witchcraft is to blame when several members of a pagan cult are killed in an unusual manner.
Days of Misrule--Christmas comes early for Barnaby and Jones when a suspicious explosion frees them from a dreaded team-building exercise.
Talking to the Dead--Two couples go missing from the sleepy village of Monks Barton; the locals blame ghosts, but Barnaby suspects a more earthly culprit.

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Midsomer Murders: Set 17 (2011) Review

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(More customer reviews)Based on a set of only seven novels by Caroline Graham (beginning with The Killings at Badger's Drift), Midsomer Murders is a long-running and very popular series that debuted in the U.K. in 1997. The series features the likable Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) and is set in the fictional English county of Midsomer which consists of several villages each of which seems to rival Cabot Cove, Maine for their improbably high murder rates.
Agatha Christie, the world's most successful mystery writer, considered plot to be of utmost importance when crafting her stories. Graham, on the other hand, has said that she prefers to start out with interesting characters and allow the plot to form around them. And it is certainly the characters that are the centerpiece of Midsomer Murders. Unusual, odd and memorable are all words that could be used to describe the show's colorful collection of villagers - including the murderers, the victims and the bystanders, very few of whom could be described as "innocent".
Part police procedural, part quirky cozy, part traditional whodunit, Midsomer Murders should appeal to a variety of murder mystery fans. Even after seeing nearly 70 episodes, I find the show remains dependably entertaining with strong writing, intricate plots and uniformly first-rate acting. Episodes exist more or less independent of one another and need not be viewed in broadcast order. However, because of Barnaby's changing Detective Sergeants over the years, viewers might wish to do so.
One of my favorite aspects of the series is the gorgeous glimpses it provides of the English countryside and the picturesque villages, vine covered cottages and grand estates in which the stories are set. For true devotees, the book Midsomer Murders on Location provides information on where each episode was filmed. I'm also inordinately fond of the theme music which seems to suit the quirkiness of Midsomer Murders perfectly.
The following episodes are included in Set 17:
* The Dogleg Murders (Episode 67): After a player is murdered on the course at a prestigious golf club, Barnaby and Jones discover a bevy of crimes, and more murder, among the club's members.
* The Black Book (Episode 68): The sale at auction of a newly discovered masterpiece by a Midsomer painter seems to be the catalyst for a series of murders.
* Secrets and Spies (Episode 69): Barnaby's past as a secret agent comes into play when another former agent is murdered after a cricket match.
* The Glitch (Episode 70): Barnaby suspects that the threat by a local university fellow to reveal a glitch in a new software program mistakenly caused the hit and run killing of a local school teacher.
Because of the somewhat unorthodox behavior of a number of the characters, some rare flashes of nudity and the often gruesome nature of the crimes, I feel Midsomer Murders is best suited to older teens and adults.

Highly recommended.

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THE MYSTERIES
The Dogleg Murders--Members of the swanky Whiteoaks Golf Club keep turning up dead by the 13th hole. The Black Book--The detectives investigate a string of savage murders precipitated by a local art auction. Secrets and Spies--A mysterious creature is killing sheep in Midsomer County, but it soon moves on to larger prey. The Glitch--A local scientist’s determination to stop an American millionaire’s latest business venture has fatal repercussions.

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