Tag Archives: Martin Shaw

Inspector George Gently: Gently And The New Age. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Lisa McGrillis, Richard Harrington, Adam Levy, Naomi Frederick, Steve Robertson, Tom Andrews, Louis Hilyer, David Prosho, Simon Hubbard, Michelle Bonnard, Jon Culshaw, Rachel Bavidge, Mandeep Dhillon, Grant Gillespie, Don Gallagher, Phil Corbitt, Christopher Brand, Geoffrey Breton, Katie West, Damien Matthews, Roger Barclay, Pip Chamberlin.

In the last few years the image of George Gently on television has been a reminder of less hectic times, still dogged by the sense of criminality that has weaved itself throughout society since records began, but one that was dealt with perhaps a more studious approach to policing and detective work, rather than relying on the science, the drip feed of automation against the human brain.

Inspector George Gently: Gently And The New Age. Television Review. full post

(402 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Strike:The Cuckoo’s Calling. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Burke, Holliday Grainger, Martin Shaw, Davis Avery, Leo Bill, Tara Fitzgerald, Kadiff Kirwan, Kerr Logan, Natasha O’Keeffe, Killian Scott, Bronson Webb, Elarica Johnson, Amber Anderson, Brian Bovell, Adelle Leonce, Kevin Fuller, Greg McKenzie, Jazz Cartier, Tezlym Senior-Sakutu, Suzanna Hamilton, Callie Coke, Sian Phillips.

There is always a detective waiting in the wings, a shadow waiting to emerge and be able to save the day with cunning, remarkable insight and the odd quirk to their name; in an age where television and arguably literature seems to have cornered every possible way to portray the down at heel gumshoe or detective with a flaw, along comes Cormoran Strike to add another dimension to the armchair detective’s televised alter ego.

Strike:The Cuckoo’s Calling. Television Review. full post

(513 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Inspector George Gently: Gently Liberated. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Heather Carroll, Lisa McGrillis, Lorcan Cranitch, Steven Elder, Don Gallagher, Simon Hubbard, Emma Rigby, Victoria Bewick, Anamaria Marinca, Maria Stockley, Robert Lonsdale, Derek Hutchinson, Paul Warriner, Rachel Teate, Christopher Tembey.

 

A television series can too often outlive its life expectancy, the natural story that drew the viewer in coming to a stuttering halt and becoming less than the perfect ideal viewing it once was proudly claimed to be. In some cases though what might have been perceived as the final adventures of a much loved character might not be enough, the finale of a person’s life left hanging, stuck in the rounds of congratulations and non-committal farewells. Such was the fate of Martin Shaw’s Inspector George Gently, left dangling after a successful case cracked, there really was a couple of more hurrahs left in the soul but none seemed forth coming.

Inspector George Gently: Gently Liberated. Television Review. full post

(475 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Inspector George Gently: Son Of A Gun. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Lisa McGrillis, Jody Latham, Elizabeth Carling, Simon Hubbard, Danny Cunningham, Patrick Mcnamee, Annabel Scholey, Tom Hutch, Emma Lundy, Rosie Wyatt, Lucian Msamati, William Graham, Paul Hamilton.

 

For every generation must come a time when it watches those who will replace them with wonder, dread and in some cases frightened to death of what will happen to them and those not wishing to follow in their size nines. For those that lived through the Second World War and fought for the peace that was won afterwards, to see the actions of some of the young, untempered by the hardships and reality of fighting against an enemy that wanted to destroy you but who in turn wanted to sweep away everything that you had fought desperately for, must have been like watching a tidal wave of exhausting hatred and bile.

Inspector George Gently: Son Of A Gun. Television Review. full post

(546 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

Inspector George Gently: Gently Between Friends. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Lisa McGrillis, Adrian Bower, Louise Brealey, Emma Cunniffe, Anthony Flanagan, Jim Moir, Nick Sidi, Kris Deedigan, Luke Maddison, Glyn Pritchard, Paul Brennen, Simon Hubbard, Annabel Scholey, Lawrence Neal, Jim Kitson, Shaughan Seymour, William Troughton.

Arguments between friends, especially life long ones, can be the source of much anger and hatred; yet somehow they blow over without much issue or ceremony, a drink and a proper handshake, one without descending into sarcasm and cynicism. It is the ones that don’t blow over, where hatred and jealousy become entwined and unable to be torn apart, that’s when the spectre of murder rears its ugly head and the free flowing nature of Gently Between Friends is disturbed.

Inspector George Gently: Gently Between Friends. Television Review. full post

(407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Inspector George Gently: Breathe In The Air. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Lisa McGrillis, Simon Hubbard, Nicholas Woodeson,  Lesley Nicol, Mark Aiken, Ashleigh Armstrong, Emily Atkinson, Bryony Corrigan, Jonathan Cullen, Jason Done, Ben Fiske, Suzy Kane, Patsy Lowe, Deidre Mullins, Georgia Nicholson, Derek Riddell, Annabel Scholey, Richard Shanks.

The stench of corporate corruption is not a new, it is perhaps not even fashionable to look to hard into it when thousands of jobs are stake; however not a single penny of hush money should ever be paid, to the even more corrupt or to the victims of the abuse perpetrated in the name of profit and business. For Inspector George Gently the 60s may be coming to a close but the chance to Breathe in the Air and bring the corrupted to book is never a closed chapter.

Inspector George Gently: Breathe In The Air. Television Review. full post

(514 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Inspector George Gently: Gently With The Women. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Lisa McGrillis, Jeremy Swift, Lucy Liemann, Emily Woof, Derek Riddell, Denise Welch, Alice Blundell, Paul Charlton, Mickey Cochrane, Christine Berriman Dawson, Simon Hubbard, Madeline Knight, Lillian Macardle, Annabel Scholey, Robert Whitelock, Philippa Wilson.

There are few crimes that are as horrific as murder, and yet when they take place the nation is divided it seems between those who with macho intent deliver a sermon well worn and so outdated that it barely deserves repeating and those who understand how the unbalancing of the act can have on the local area, the people and nature.

Inspector George Gently: Gently With The Women. Television Review. full post

(424 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Inspector George Gently: Gently Going Under. Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Lisa McGrillis, Lucy Cohu, Poppy Lee Frair, Michael Socha, Simon Greenall, Lewis Reeves, Jack Deam, Dale Meeks, Ralph Ineson, Simon Hubbard, Jane Elizabeth Walsh, Jaqueline Philips, Anna Bolton, Nicholas Rowe, Rick Warden.

Inspector George Gently: Gently Going Under. Television Review. B.B.C. Television. full post

(514 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Inspector George Gently: Gently With Honour. Television Review. B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Lisa McGrillis, William Ash, Jemma Redgrave, Oliver Milburn, Oliver Johnstone, Pip Torrens, Daniel Lapaine, Stephen Hamilton, Ford Kiernan, Olwen May, Bradley Gardner, Simon Hubbard, Celyn Jones.

Gently With Honour placed a very big size nine boot against the world of the British Army in the deeply suspicious days of the 1960s and upturned the kind of scandal that still sticks in the throat of all who may have served in the forces during that time but also would have caused a stink so high if the British public had found out what was being done to combat the issue of Communism.

Inspector George Gently: Gently With Honour. Television Review. B.B.C. full post

(464 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Inspector George Gently: Blue For Bluebird. Television Review. B.B.C. Television.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Martin Shaw, Lee Ingleby, Lisa McGrillis, Lee Boardman, Andrea Lowe, Pixie Lott, Lisa Riley, Isabelle Walters, Jodie Comer, Neil McDermott, Sean Kenney, Amelia Young.

The dying days of the 1960s saw the start of the decline of the family holiday parks as the British remembered them. They were going to have to modernise or become ancient history; they were going to have to compete with the cheap family holidays that were becoming the norm as venues in Spain were becoming tourist traps for the British holidaymaker. What wouldn’t have helped is a murder on the doorstep and the police in the shape of crusty cove George Gently investigating and poking his methodical nose into every nook and cranny.

Inspector George Gently: Blue For Bluebird. Television Review. B.B.C. Television. full post

(439 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)