The Good

Peter Davison is highly engaging as “Dangerous” Davies.

The Bad

No real extra features. Only 4 episodes.

“Dangerous” Davies (Peter Davison) is the ill respected detective in The Last Detective: Series 3. This four episode set features Davies doing his best to restore order in his life, make things right with his wife Julie (Emma Amos) and not have his roommate Mod’s (Sean Hughes) eccentricities rub off on him too much. So Davies simply carries on with his life, not getting respect, even when its clear that he is a very good detective. The episodes in this set are:

  • Friends Reunited

  • Towpaths of Glory

  • Three Steps to Hendon

  • Wellesden Confidential

All of these episodes showcase just how brilliant Davies is, the problem is that he can’t seem to catch a break in his personal life. I enjoyed all of the episodes a great deal. Of all the American sleuths he reminds me the most of Columbo. While he doesn’t play things as weird as Peter Falk, “Dangerous” (as he is so often referred to throughout this show), is strange because of how normal he is. However, when it comes time for him to put the screws into whatever culprit he may be dealing with, his transformation is both subtle and extremely focused. It’s no surprise that this character would be so popular. At the same time, its easy to understand how people ignore and get quite upset with him.

Features

Leslie Thomas Bio and Booklist and Cast Filmographies

My biggest problem with Acorn Media is that they put out these great shows but they really don’t offer a lot in terms on Bonus Content. Perhaps I am spoiled, after all I am lucky enough to review DVDs for a living, but I find myself very engaged with all these Acorn Media shows and I look to the Extra Features to supplement my viewing experience. Unfortunately, aside from “text extras” there really aren’t any extras at all.

Video

16:9 Widescreen - This show didn’t have the washed out, bright look that it seems a lot of British TV shows have. It looked fairly standard for the most part and they really haven’t done any crazy editing. I think I may have mentioned this before but that’s one thing that I like about these British detective shows. I don’t know if they’re paying homage to the 1980s, but that’s how the shows look and that works a lot better for me. While I like CSI and a bunch of the other procedural shows from today, I truly appreciate the “old school” approach employed here.

Audio

Stereo. The sound was good, I was able to hear everything the actors were saying and I guess that’s really all that matters, right? I think what could have given this two disc DVD set a little more punch would have been a jazz type soundtrack. Yeah, I know that that’s an oft used device but I feel that its appropriate here. This show has an old school, older world feel to it and I think audio that supports that would have been a nice touch.

Package

This is also a bone I have to pick with Acorn Media. I am sure they have their reasons but they provide a lot of packaging to only house two discs. For example, Paramount puts out 6 disc sets of hour long TV shows in one amaray case. This 4 episode set of The Last Detective: Series 3 is over twice that size. It has two amaray cases inside of a slipcase and while I applaud the artwork for not being busy, I just wish it fit more economically in my collection.

Final Word

Peter Davison, Sean Hughes and Emma Amos as the main cast of The Last Detective are all very good. When I started watching this show I said to myself, “This guy seems likable enough why does he have so many problems?” Then as I watched the show it became clear to me that the creators of The Last Detective have done a very strong job of capturing relationships. Simply by virtue of the fact that we have to live together we are bound to get on one another’s nerves. That idea seems to be the focal point of this show and the detective stories are set around it. “Dangerous” has the kind of job that always sees him working. He is never “off” as they say and due to this his personal life isn’t ever really “on.”

However, getting up everyday and continuing to try certainly earns our main character points and it really makes The Last Detective: Series 3 worth watching.

The Last Detective was released .