Robert Lindsay is Inspector Michael Jericho, a brilliant Scotland Yard detective and media darling living a lonely solitary existence, in this short-lived British mystery series set in the social upheaval of late-1950s London. Like so many Brit historical crime shows, the recreation of the physical environment and social atmosphere brings an added dynamic to the smartly-written mysteries. Lindsay is compelling as the grim, driven Jericho, a man haunted by his father's murder, who with the help of his loyal Sergeant (David Troughton) and a young, asthmatic DC, methodically investigates high-profile murders. Jericho also battles a local crime boss (who he believes was involved with his dad's killing) and corruption in the police, especially an officer (Brendan Coyle) who leaks smears against Jericho and his dead father. Meanwhile, Jericho also begins to romance a mysterious French neighbor who turns out to be a prostitute—offering the possibility of yet another scandal. The show, which presents a shadowy, seedy, depressed London, and draws on historical events and culture, was launched in 2005 in the wake of Foyle's War but did not find the same success and only four feature-length episodes were produced. The debut, "A Pair of Ragged Claws," is centered on a murder tangled in racism, while the final episode, "The Hollow Men," is set against the release of the film Bridge on the River Kwai as well as a toxic fog that seeps into London in 1959 (it also has a subplot with Jericho screen-testing to play himself in a TV series that dramatizes his cases). Also including “The Killing of Johnny Swan” and “To Murder and Create,” this is recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Jericho of Scotland Yard
Acorn, 2 discs, 376 min., not rated, DVD: $49.99 Volume 32, Issue 2
Jericho of Scotland Yard
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