3057 replies to this topic

[McBrien76]

I don't understand why the cancer research needed to be super secret or how it could possibly BE secret with those banks of computers and tech equipment "hidden" in the basement (like hydroponics, the energy consumption alone would have drawn suspicion)..

Well this is what the Daily Telegraph had to say:

" The denouement came in a secret lab underneath the gardens...and I did briefly wonder how one goes about installing a £2m subterranean medical research facility without attracting any suspicion, but I’m splitting hairs. "

read more: http://www.telegraph...TV1-review.html

I've lately been watching The Thick of It on BBCA, and I have newfound appreciation for Rebecca Front's comedy chops. So now I'm hoping that she'll get more to do on Lewis.

Well she did win a BAFTA TV Award in 2010 for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role for 'The Thick of It'
Looking at her CV comedy seems to be her forte more than drama.

The Hathaway I've come to know wouldn't have been unnerved by an attractive girl who made sure to let him know she was single.

Maybe the writers forgot what they wrote earlier. Maybe they don't care. I still like the show.

Unlikely as this episode was written by Rachel Bennette who has never written for Inspector Lewis before. This might explain why the episode had a different feel to it.

Edited by McBrien76, Jul 11, 2012 @ 5:04 AM.

[puddingcup]

How much easier real-life detective work would be if you could ascertain guilt simply by recognising someone from, you know, that thing, with that other guy.

Very true!

[peeayebee]

I love this line from the DailyTelegraph review:

How much easier real-life detective work would be if you could ascertain guilt simply by recognising someone from, you know, that thing, with that other guy.

[attica finch]

Looking at her CV comedy seems to be her forte more than drama.

[indignant whine] It's all television! How are we poor Yanks supposed to appreciate the great Britcom performers when we get so little of it here?! I mean, movies are pretty easy to come by; they're reviewed by US reviewers, they make it onto dvd and cable movie channels, etc. But our access to tv shows is limited to a few hours a week on public television and whatever BBCA can shoehorn in for an hour or two on Saturday late-night.

Yes, sure, you can get a lot of it on dvd, but if you don't know about it, you don't know what you don't know. You know?

I learn more about what I'm missing from watching the guests on Graham Norton's couch than I do from the US press. [/whine]

::cleansing breath:: Back to Lewis. I sometimes idly wish the shows costumers would alter Hathaway's suit jackets to be a tad longer. Fox is so long-waisted that the ones he wears sometimes look ill-fitting, however au courant they are.

Edited by attica finch, Jul 11, 2012 @ 9:54 AM.

[M. Darcy]

since when do the police refuse to speak to someone - particularly quite early on in an investigation - simply because the individual was personally exasperating? It looked like very shoddy legwork.

This is driving me crazy - wasn't there a Morse episode where this happened also? This women kept waiting and waiting to talk to Morse but he had a hot date or something and kept ignoring her. Maybe it was the episode with Zoe Wanamaker with the women ministers and the diet program?

Edited by M. Darcy, Jul 11, 2012 @ 11:24 AM.

[Milz]

With respect, I don't think Michelle was any kind of police groupie or wannabe. She was conducting her own inquiries into her son's death. Not because she was channelling her inner Helen Mirren, but because she thought the authorities were too incompetent to do so.

Prior to learning of her son's death, she looked like a police groupie.

Back to Lewis. I sometimes idly wish the shows costumers would alter Hathaway's suit jackets to be a tad longer.

That bugs me too. But maybe it's done purposely to show Hathaway is a nerd who doesn't greatly care about his appearance? In the first series, Hathaway was into world music and played guitar with a group, in other words, cool and modern. Now, it seems like they're making him into a nerdish introvert devoid of social skills and who spends his time home alone reading comic books. Yeah, the writers can make the argument that the police work transformed him. IIRC, a couple of series ago, he was greatly effected by a murder investigation where he found the body of a dead child. The case wasn't shown but it was mentioned and it influenced his performance on the case of the week. And that whole Zoe Kenneth-Fiacre Phelan thing where he's drugged and almost murdered.

But I agree with whoever said it upthread...Hathaway is creepy. That is, they've made him creepy.

[dustylil]

This is driving me crazy - wasn't there a Morse episode where this happened also?

Probably. Certainly Morse wasn't the most professional of police investigators. I recall one Morse episode when he arrested the wrong suspect and then went back to the man's neighbours and blabbed to them about the fellow's personal problems and financial difficulties.

[hlisy]

Well she did win a BAFTA TV Award in 2010 for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role for 'The Thick of It'
Looking at her CV comedy seems to be her forte more than drama.




Unlikely as this episode was written by Rachel Bennette who has never written for Inspector Lewis before. This might explain why the episode had a different feel to it.

The newbie writer does explain why the episode felt wrong, and characters personalities seemed off. As I saw the basement lab all I could think about was the cheesy Bond movies. The episode did hold some promise, like Lewis Carrol and the fact that Lewis wants Hathaway to have an outside life. But the rest was a white hot mess IMHO.

As for Hathaway's suits, I've seen cuts like that in British men's fashion mags.

[Milz]

Thinking about the secret lab and secret cancer research....I recalled reading a few years ago that the UK's National Health system put a cap on cancer treatments if it exceeded 50,000 pounds. I did some more digging and found these more recent articles on the subject:

http://www.nhs.uk/ne...questioned.aspx

http://menmedia.co.u...ive-to-patients

So yeah...it's sounds corny that a rich guy who happens to be a scientist and whose wife happens to be dying of some sort of skin cancer sells off the family treasures to build a secret lab in which to do secret cancer research. But there seems to be a basis (though far-fetched) for such a thing.

[M. Darcy]

This is the info about the episode from the MT email "When a lonely Oxford professor's dating video goes viral, she is humiliated before her students and colleagues. But humiliated enough to take her own life? Lewis thinks not."

And, in the Don't I Know That Guest Star - there is Toby Stephens, Freddie Fox who is Laurence's cousin and Daniel Lapaine (he was the guy who married Muriel in Muriel's Wedding).

[hlisy]

Well this was a better episode than last weeks- regular cast were back to form. Hathaway cracked some jokes, the Lewis/Hobson thing went nowhere as usual and I know who killed the victim 30 min in. Lovely to see Toby Stevens again.. Sigh, and Hathaways explanation about taking the dating website card was classic Hathaway.

It seemed there was to be more the Laura and DI interactions but perhaps got cut.

[Jessie Q]

M. Darcy Thanks for the Daniel Lapaine info - I didn't make the connection to Muriel's Wedding (mainly because he wasn't playing a mouth breather in tonight's episode).

Goodness, Roxanne McKee is simply striking!

[basiltherat]

Once again, it seems that I try to insert a secret love child into the story. This week, I thought that Smart-Aleck Sebastian was the love child of Miranda, the secret of which was what broke up her and the rich guy 20 years before. I guess if I do this every week, I will be right one time!

[elle]

DI Peterson is certainly easy on the eyes! Is he on again?

Lewis and Laura do eventually get together, don't they?

Are there that many dirt lanes in Oxford that a number of business are on them or am I confusing a dirt lane from a private house to a paved road?

Edited by elle, Jul 15, 2012 @ 11:26 PM.

[voiceover]

Yay for it not being Toby!

Looking forward to next week's. I know there's no chance, but I saw a spark between [guest star] Lucy Cohu & Kevin W. And I thought, Yum. I'm over Laura. Besides, she lit up more around New Cute DI then I've ever seen her do around Lewis.

[Cress]

Are they trying to set up the new DI Peterson for something after Lewis retires? He partners up with Hathaway? Or maybe he's just a love interest for Laura?

The mystery wasn't too bad, but I had trouble keeping the various people straight.

[dustylil]

Once again, it seems that I try to insert a secret love child into the story. This week, I thought that Smart-Aleck Sebastian was the love child of Miranda, the secret of which was what broke up her and the rich guy 20 years before. I guess if I do this every week, I will be right one time!

I do that too. I like to think of it as my own theory of relativity :)

[Arnold Robinson]

Doc Hobson reads Patrick O'Brian? I like her even better now. And I was put on to him by my history professor who doesn't drink much but is a woman -- so put that in your pipe and smoke it, Hathaway.
Toby Stephens played Connolley. I spent the whole episode trying to figure out why he looked so familar (other than looking like Tim Daly, anyhow). Turns out he was the (lame) bad guy in Die Another Day.
My last tidbit from IMDB is that DI Peterson will be back and that the actor was in a Morse episode called "Deadly Slumber."
Finally, I think Colin Dexter had a cameo during the drinks party at the college, when Miranda was last seen.

[hlisy]

Doc Hobson reads Patrick O'Brian? I like her even better now. And I was put on to him by my history professor who doesn't drink much but is a woman -- so put that in your pipe and smoke it, Hathaway.
Toby Stephens played Connolley. I spent the whole episode trying to figure out why he looked so familar (other than looking like Tim Daly, anyhow). Turns out he was the (lame) bad guy in Die Another Day.
My last tidbit from IMDB is that DI Peterson will be back and that the actor was in a Morse episode called "Deadly Slumber.
Finally, I think Colin Dexter had a cameo during the drinks party at the college, when Miranda was last seen.

Toby Stevens also starred as Mr Richester in a PBS adaptation of Jane Eyre. I watch to many Morse episodes because I thought a)that Hathaway would become involved with Briolly and b) that Susan would have put poison in her drink at the end and died as shed talking to the cops.

Since the theme of this Season seems to be about love, I'm thinking the new DI will be Laura's love interest. Interestingly, though Hathaway professes not to think of Hobson/Lewis's relationship, he's always the one teasing Robbie about it. Since there's still another set of episodes before the end, I don't see any change in their relationship.

Six degrees of separation trivia: the gentleman playing The Master of the college was in a Doctor Who episode with Billie Piper aka Mrs Fox.

[culturevulture73]

Loved ActionLewis and Hathaway taking down the rogue drug dealer (and showing up the rumored new Chief Constable). Plus their appearance on "the telly." It was like watching Mulder and Scully the few times they got dragged into a "regular" FBI action. Must be short on detectives in Oxford. "Wait, we're Team D, aren't we?"

It all came back to California - Silicon Valley investors (sell out now, Barker, before you end up like Digg), Palo Alto investors, failure to get into Stanford...

Hathaway sounded a bit hurt he was shuffled off to the new guy away from Lewis. His explanation of taking the dating service card was classic.

Lewis making that comment about the bright person never finding love - Hathaway or Morse...

[M. Darcy]

Freddie does look a lot like his cousin. On Friday, MPT showed his mother's episode of Morse - Dead on Time. Which I honestly think is the most depressing episode of all time (the one with Morse's former fiancee whose husband dies and then winds up killing herself).

Oh, poor Toby. Why just didn't he read the letters!

Toby Stephens played Connolley. I spent the whole episode trying to figure out why he looked so familar

I kept looking at his face (which is not a hardship) and trying to decide if he looks like his Mother (Maggie Smith) at all. I think he does.

[Milz]

Oh, poor Toby. Why just didn't he read the letters!

That was disappointing...in the 90s when he played Mr. Markham on Masterpiece's "The Tenant of Wildefell Hall", he not only read the letters but he also read the diary---with permission of course, and that had a much happier ending.

Are they trying to set up the new DI Peterson for something after Lewis retires? He partners up with Hathaway? Or maybe he's just a love interest for Laura?

He'll probably end up being a crooked cop a few skeletons (figuratively and literally) buried in his backyard.

Hathaway sounded a bit hurt he was shuffled off to the new guy away from Lewis. His explanation of taking the dating service card was classic.

On Sunday evenings, we listen to a radio program that airs radio shows from the 30s-50s. On the "Johnny Dollar" episode last night, Dollar says something like "His name sounded so phony it had to be real".

[Driad]

I had trouble keeping the various people straight.

So did I, as I often do in the "Masterpiece" dramas. This time it was the dark-haired white men. I wish the creators would keep in mind that not all viewers have sharp vision, new TV sets, or the leisure to watch without interruptions.

[susan sunflower]

There was something about the phlandering husband that I found strangely artificial and distracting. I think it was his makeup (a bit too air-brushed for a man that age/SES) that kept confusing me everytime he appeared ... and he kept appearing. The woman dating site owner's outfits similarl kept distracting me, being both extraordinarily revealing in a clingy form-fitting way, but also obviously impeding her ability to move. At one point, the sweet young thing appeared in a micro mini peasanty-top-dress that baredly skimmed her crotch (and appeared to be being held down/in place by something (gaffer's tape?)


I thought the story held together rather well -- except for wondering why the sweet-young-murder-victim would e-mail her boyfriend with the news of what she had found under his password .... uh, no, but the grungy you-tube-website owner radiated an odd "gay" evil from moment one. I did expect for the pretty virginal young boy to be his prey or victim in some way ... (IMDB has a incomplete cast list -- sorry for the vagaries).

Toby Stevens is very easy on the eyes ... as is the new DI, who makes Hathway appear rather oddly featured and awkward (we'll have to see where this is going).

Good episode ... let's see, crazy brokenhearted woman villain ... and last week?

[Deanie87]

There was something about the phlandering husband that I found strangely artificial and distracting. I think it was his makeup (a bit too air-brushed for a man that age/SES) that kept confusing me everytime he appeared ... and he kept appearing

For me, it was the denim blazer that he was sporting in his first scenes.

I am getting a bit tired of the will they/won't they between Lewis and Hobson. The fact that Lewis didn't know who Patrick O'Brian was seemed telling to me. But I do love Lewis's sputtering outrage against the lawless and immoral Internets!

I must have missed Hathaway's line about the dating site. Can anyone clue me in? Thanks!

Edited by Deanie87, Jul 16, 2012 @ 10:04 AM.

[Milz]

There was something about the phlandering husband that I found strangely artificial and distracting. I think it was his makeup

Too much eyeliner, imo.

why the sweet-young-murder-victim would e-mail her boyfriend with the news of what she had found under his password

Because she's an idiot. ;-)

I thought Hathaway was attracted to her.

Anyhow, something about the Barker website triggered a recollection of a similar website I heard about on tv. It looks like Dr. Phil did a show about it. http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1540/

[hlisy]

Too much eyeliner, imo.



/

I thought his hair seemed dyed. But that married man/journo subplot fell flat IMHO. I'm glad someone else's gaydar pinged with Seb and the online tabloid. I honestly thought Briony had found pics of Seb and the older guy.

Hathaways reaction to Pairing up with Peterson was strange and it seemed like an explanation scene was missing. I couldn't tell whether he was pissed because the DI usurped him or he didn't get to work with Lewis. Hathaways whole mannerisms during the interrogation scene were strange. But judging by the slow response to the breakaway criminal perhaps there's a little more than tobacco on his cigarettes.

As for the ladies fashions, traveling in Britain has shown me women wear much worse! And hurrah for college students who aren't Goths!

Finally, I do hope Hobson and the new DI hookup because it doesn't look like Robbie's in any hurry to date her. I'm feeling about them the same way I felt about Frasier's Niles and Daphne- after 6 years either $&@! or get off the pot.

[susan sunflower]

Actually, I though the "gayness" of the tabloid owner was pretty overt ... and the Seb's sexuality (despite conspicuous girlfriend) was extremely ambiguous ... my gaydar (which is generally under developed) was with the actor playing the philandering husband ... The makeup, the hair dye, the unrealistic pineing after the dead woman who,it should be mentioned, was remarkably beautiful and accomplished and generally waaaaay out of his class ... yeah, the denim jacket was about 2 decades (or more) out of style and fit him poorly.

[Jessie Q]

Quote


I had trouble keeping the various people straight.

So did I, as I often do in the "Masterpiece" dramas. This time it was the dark-haired white men. I wish the creators would keep in mind that not all viewers have sharp vision, new TV sets, or the leisure to watch without interruptions.

In one of the last scene's at Kit's house, I thought the blonde woman was the philandering husband's wife (her hair looked so much blonder than in previous scenes)! So, yeah, I also had trouble keeping the characters straight...

[peeayebee]

I thought that was pretty good.

I didn't know Toby Stephens was Maggie Smith's son. Actually, for some reason when I saw his name in the opening credits, I was picturing another actor. When I realized I was wrong, I had to find out who I was thinking of: Robert Hardy. No idea why I thought his name was Toby Stephens.

There was something about the phlandering husband that I found strangely artificial and distracting.

I felt the same. I thought he was gay.

The woman dating site owner's outfits similarl kept distracting me, being both extraordinarily revealing in a clingy form-fitting way, but also obviously impeding her ability to move.

Again, I reacted the same as you, susan sunflower. I was very distracted by her dresses. I guess the clingy dresses fit her character, but she did move awkwardly in them. Maybe she always walks like that.

I thought the story held together rather well -- except for wondering why the sweet-young-murder-victim would e-mail her boyfriend with the news of what she had found under his password .... uh, no, but the grungy you-tube-website owner radiated an odd "gay" evil from moment one. I did expect for the pretty virginal young boy to be his prey or victim in some way ... (IMDB has a incomplete cast list -- sorry for the vagaries).

Didn't Lewis or someone say at one point that Kit Benton (owner of Barker) was Sebastian's sugar daddy? I took that to mean there was something more than just finances involved.


At the very beginning when the students were laughing at the video on the cell phone, and Miranda looked at it, I was sure that she had done a porn video or something that the students discovered.