Dalziel & Pascoe: Season One

Set in Yorkshire, this superior BBC police drama is based on Reginald Hill's novels pairing crude but cunning Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel and smooth, well-educated Detective Inspector Peter Pascoe. Although Dalziel & Pascoe launched in 1996 (and still airs with new episodes on British television), the show has only been broadcast sporadically in the U.S. Bulldog-faced Warren Clarke is perfect as the grumpy but professionally capable Dalziel, while Colin Buchanan is appropriately reserved as his more methodical (and frequently put-upon) junior assistant (of course, their regard for one another grows over time). This set compiles the three 90-minute episodes aired in 1996 (with guest appearances by Prunella Scales and Francesca Annis). The first two entries are fairly conventional: “A Clubbable Woman” concerns a murder that implicates members of a local rugby club, while “An Advancement of Learning” revolves around the discovery of a long-buried body on a university campus. But the third, “An Autumn Shroud,” is more unusual, centering on the disappearance of the son of a newly widowed woman with whom Dalziel becomes romantically involved while Pascoe is away on his honeymoon. Even though the plotting doesn't always equal the richness of characterization, these first episodes featuring the titular gumshoe odd couple are well worth watching. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)