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THE LAST DETECTIVE
Released by Acorn UK. Out now to buy. 2 disc set. Also available on VHS.

Having just seen Acorn’s release of the 1981 Bernard Cribben’s version of the first story in this series it is very interesting to see how times have changed and to be able to compare the two versions.

Based on the character created by Leslie Thomas this new release from Acorn aired on the ITV1 network in the UK in March 2003 (made by Meridian) the series stars Peter Davison as Detective Constable Dangerous Davies, a middle aged copper who only gets the cases nobody else wants. The first two stories The Last Detective and Dangerous by Moonlight are based on Thomas novels whilst stories three and four are new ones. In the Last Detective Davies’ digging into the story of a local bad boy discovers a link to the unsolved murder of 17 year old Celia Norris, Dangerous by Moonlight has Dangerous taking up ballroom dancing to investigating a husband’s disappearance, story 3 Tricia sees Dangerous falling victim to a stalker whilst the final story Lofty guest stars the priceless Norman Wisdom with a plot concerning the death of an old tramp. All the stories are feature length.

This is a surprisingly good series that whilst obviously having to make changes to the Davies character to bring it up to date still manages to stay true to the flavour of Thomas’s original material, combining as it does, proper who-dunnit material and humorous moments.

Especially worthy of note is the relationship between Davison’s Dangerous and Sean Hughes’s Mod who is Dangerous’s best friend, in the books Mod is a chubby middle aged Welshman whilst here he becomes a rake thin Irishman, obviously this doesn’t detract in any way from the series as most viewers won’t necessarily be aware of the source material.

Guest stars include the likes of  Emma Amos (as Dangerous’s ex wife), Rob Spendlove, David Troughton, Joanne Froggatt, Ingrid Lacey, Sian Phillips, Julia McKenzie, Eleanor David, Joanna Kanska and the already mentioned Norman Wisdom.

More sedate than some of today's overly violent crime drama fare Dangerous Davies is a very welcome addition to the detective drama ranks. A second series is on the way.

Extras:  Mostly text based these include production notes, cast filmographies, a bio and bibliography of Leslie Thomas and a photo gallery.