Reviews

Roy Tagger is not exactly a client of Clay Culhane. He asks Clay advice about the double jeopardy rule.

Tagger was cheated by his business partner and then spent time in jail for killing him. Now Tagger will kill that man and he cannot go to jail. He will take what is owed to him.

Clay figures that the man Tagger is after is Virgil Britt. He has some beef with Culhane over a court case about water rights. A case Culhane won.

When Virgil Britt is killed Clay ends up in jail while protesting his innocence. Then there is a second death and Clay Culhane is blamed for that.

It is left to Clay to clear his name.

Maybe Clay Culhane should had gone straight down to see Marshal Gib Scott after Tagger revealed his plans.

Tagger did not have much of a plan. He kills Britt and swans to his property thinking he could just help himself.

Not sure how Marshal Scott could hold Clay responsible for the second death. He was in the cell at the time and the body would had been still warm.

Ben leaps into the body of rushed off her feet public defender Elena Ramirez and has to turn into Perry Mason.

18 year old Camilo Diaz is on trial for the murder of a gang member that was trying to recruit his younger brother Leo. Camilo protests his innocence but was seen fleeing the crime scene. The evidence against him is strong.

In the original timeline of 1985, Elena entered a plea deal with ambitious ADA Bill Barnes. It ripped the Diaz family apart.

Now Ben decides to go to trial but he knows nothing about being a lawyer. Jenn helps out as she has a law degree and was on trial for hacking.

Only public defenders are overworked, underpaid and rely on plea bargaining.

With the help of Magic Williams and the team. They figure out that Barnes hid some evidence. It is costly for Elena. She was having an affair with another ADA.

It does take a leap that someone can suddenly become a trial lawyer. Also no one noticed especially Elena's girlfriend that suddenly she was a rubbish lawyer.

It does make barbed comments about the justice system. The public defence system is al; about making deals than actual justice.

The third season premier of Superman & Lois eventually focusses on Bruno Mannheim (Chad L Coleman) the intergang crime boss.

He is the big bad behind Atom-Man who challenges Superman.

Until then you have Clark Kent and Lois Lane as a family unit. The boys Jordan and Jonathan celebrate their 16th birthdays.

Jordan seemed to have got a better hang of his powers such as flying. Only his dad ain't that keen on Jordan on helping him out on rescue missions.

Whereas Jonathan has just passed his driving test.

As for Lois she thinks that she is pregnant. News that takes a surprise Clark Kent by surprise.

So there are some plot threads being formed. Superman & Lois has always been about the family unit balancing the action part of the story. A solid but not amazing opener.

While Ncuti Gatwa was still finishing Sex Education, the Netflix series. The filming of Doctor Who commenced without its lead.

This was the first episode shot. RTD went the whole 9 yards to do something novel. It starts out with Welsh folk horror.

The Tardis lands on the cliffs of the Welsh coast and the Doctor accidentally breaks a fairy circle.

It leads to Ruby having a vision of watching an old woman, she seems to be saying something. Only when someone approaches her, they run away in horror. Not from the old woman but Ruby.

As the years go by. Ruby realises her purpose. To stop rising politician Roger ap Gwillam. The man who might bring the world to the brink of Nuclear war.

RTD subverts genres. The folk horror turns to nihilist politics. A critique of maverick politicians hell bent on the cult of personality. Only to turn back round.

It was eerie, clever and subversive. Like the ITV television series Sapphire and Steel, it lacked a proper explanation at the end.

A tape sets out the mission and destroys itself. Once again Daniel Briggs, the leading man has a lighter tole.

Not to worry Mr Sulu will pick up the slack. George Takei guest stars as scientist Roger Lee who is picked by Briggs.

The MI Team have infiltrated an enemy spy ring. The east european block that has set up a fake American town. To train sleeper agents.

Rollin Hand, Cinnamon Carter and Roger Lee are there pretending to be Americans. They learn that sleeper agents will unleash a biological weapon on American soil.

Only Rollin Hand becomes infected and a carrier. Lee needs to find and antidote.

There is a nice race against the time element to the story. The fake American town is quirky enough, although done on other shows.

This is a kind of musical episode that spoofs Gunfight at the O. K. Corral.

The Ballad of Jed Clampett summarises the latest state of play. With Jed, Jethro, Elly May and Granny go gunning for the Drysdales.

All because Sonny Drysdale has ran out on Elly May after courting her. Granny is very upset, as she leads the charge.

Only to find Milburn Drysdale is working in the bank and Sonny has fled to Boston. So Jed goes to the bank with a shotgun only t get arrested.

As Jed claims to have $25 million in the bank. Two psychiatrists are sent to assess him.

Well Granny is a hoot in this as she strides to the Drysdale estate in oversized boots. It seems no one asked Elly May if she wants to get married.

Manhunt the silent movie. There is a lengthy recap to bring the viewer up to date. After that it is all action and no talk apart from isolated tannoy announcements.

This is an experimental episode. Jimmy and Vincent team up with the French resistance members such as Anton and Allard. Even Adelaide is there to help.

It is all to lead an attack the secret aircraft development unit of the factory where Jimmy was working.

To obtain a sample of the top secret aircraft metal, the ones the Nazis have been developing in secret. It has caused a high number of deaths in the testing stage.

Jimmy and Vincent have to bring it back for London so it can be examined.

Although there is no talk, it certainly has a number of loud explosions, some fighting. A few grisly deaths, one man gets his legs run over by a tank.

It almost feels like a grown up Mission Impossible episode.

Not all of it works. At times it feels like a gimmick, when you expect the characters to talk to each other.

Andrew Fenwick (Richard O'Sullivan) is a young boy whose father has gone missing. He asks for Sherlock Holmes for his help and has a few shillings to pay him.

Sherlock Holmes is willing to oblige. From his observations of young Andrew. He concludes that Andrew's father comes in with some money and lavishes him with clothes. At other times there is a lack of money. Some of the clothes are delipidated.

The father is a gambler. Both Holmes and Doctor Watson search for him in the gambling underworld of London such as boxing clubs. Only to learn that he may have killed himself.

Holmes believes that the des[erate father might carry out a robbery and is determined to stop him.

A young Richard O'Sullivan and a sentimental ending. The poor innkeeper who is taken away.

By this point it is clear that the final season of Star Trek: Discovery is rubbish. The writers have given up and not even Jonathan Frakes can save this from the director's chair.

The Breen suddenly appear and snatch the final puzzle piece of the Progenitor technology. Captain Burnham hatches a daring plan to take two crews inside the Breen spaceship and get it back.

You could not take this stuff seriously when the senior crew discusses what to do when the Progenitor tech is stolen. This includes Tilly and Adira.

When Rayner is left in command once more as the First Officer. He inexplicably makes Tilly the acting first officer. Apart from the fact she is inexperienced and junior in rank. Who has been the acting first officer in the previous episodes when Burnham went off?

Adira is suddenly a top hacker. There is no one in engineering that can hack computers?

At the Breen ship, Moll is ordering the Breen about when you think they would just kill her. They are noted for not liking outsiders.

Frakes delivers on the action scenes. Let's face it the script gave him little options.

Adam Shepherd is in Normandy and looking for a new angle of a story about the D Day landings.

A local priest tells Adam about an American soldier who dropped off baby infant and left. No one knew how the soldier came across the baby.

Adam imagines what must have taken place. Gough is a no nonsense soldier. The leader of his platoon.

He comes across a baby in a deserted farm. The baby is crying. Gough is prepared to leave the baby to die. He cares more about his mission. S crying baby will give their position away.

When one of his men finds the baby. They want to rescue the infant. Gough disagrees. The men in his platoon do not care, they take the baby with them. As the story unfolds, Gough's men are killed and injured.

The story is essentially a modern dilemma. Gough is hard headed and practical. His men care about right and wrong, basic decency.

Adam wants to know what happened to the baby after all these years.

DCS Cradock goes for a well deserved break with newspaper mogul Richard Bolt. There are still a few loose ends to tie up.

Crime boss Nechros is still on the loose, Cradock plans to tighten the noose around Nechros.

Until then he helps out Bolt in his estate. Only a loose end falls on his lap.

Jenny Bolt, the journalist daughter of Richard Bolt has fallen in love with a disfigured man. He was involved in a car accident and has been traveling the world.

There is something unconvincing about him. Richard Bolt asks Cradock to check him out.

The whole episode was unconvincing. The bad guy might has well walked up to Cradock and handed himself in.

It was clumsily plotted. Jenny suddenly falling in love with a disfigured man who she hardly knows. Wanting to run away with him.

Not only that this Jeremy Foreman had a crafty extortion plan which involved Richard Bolt. It was all to do with the planes one of his company owns.

So the man with two faces, is it Foreman or Bolt!

The Fall Guy was a fun cheesy 1980s television show starring Lee Majors. A stuntman making ends meet as a bounty hunter.

So the trailers made no link to the television show at all. Ryan Gosling was expecting another gigantic hit after the success of Barbie. It soon became clear why this movie failed to set the box office alight. A weak screenplay.

Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is the stuntman who got badly injured while doubling for big screen star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson.) He always claims to do his own stunts.

Colt got out of the movie industry. Some time later he gets a call from producer Gail (Hannah Waddingham) to go out to Australia as Ryder has gone missing.

It would allow Colt to reunite with Jody (Emily Blunt), a camera operator he had the hots for. She is directing the movie in Australia and if Ryde cannot be found, the studio will pull the plug.

Maybe Universal Studio should had pulled the plugged for this until they had a better story. It takes a while to get going. It is a hackneyed plot.

It is left for the stunts to do the heavy lifting. They are good but not amazing. The plot is the drag.

At least there is a reference to the television show at the end. Maybe this should had been about stuntman turned bounty hunter. Instead you have to take the title of the film literally.

There were a few nice touches. When Colt saves a person with force, there was the Six Million Dollar Man sound effects used. During a boat chase, there is the Miami Vice theme.

Well it got very technical but my daughter's interest was piqued very early on. She did psychology. So there is a term for people passing by and not stopping to help someone.

All of a sudden, these random psychological terms were leading somewhere.

Blake (Steve Pemberton) has brought a random stranger home. Drew (Reece Shearsmith) was standing on a bridge looking to jump. Others passed by, but only Blake stopped to talk.

Luckily Blake is a therapist. He studied online at McCambridge University and has recently moved to the remote countryside.

Not a good place to be when a distraught Drew, reveals that he might have killed someone. Just who has this random stranger done?

I expected the usual twists and turns. Just why Blake suddenly moved. What had Drew been planning and why.

There is some clever writing. Although I kept racking my brain to figure which bits were lifted from other psychological thrillers and horror movies.

This is the rebooted Detective Sergeant John Rebus (Richard Rankin) but the early years. An ex soldier turned a maverick and violent cop on the streets of Edinburgh.

The show was commissioned by a Scandinavian streaming channel Viaplay who briefly launched a service in Britain. Then quickly pulled out.

The BBC stepped in and purchased the series by becoming an associate producer. They did not originally commissioned the show or were involved in its development and I think this is evident in the first episode.

It opens with Rebus being involved in a car accident, he was deliberately rammed off the road by a gangster called Cafferty. Rebus tries to strangle him in the ambulance.

The action moves a year later. It mostly involves Rebus's brother Michael getting involved in crime after experiencing money troubles.

There was not much original here. It has all the maverick cop cliches. At least Rankin made an impression as Rebus and I liked the tale involving his brother. The story is going to struggle over six episodes.

You Can't Be Too Careful is a cross between the movies Single White Female and Psycho.

Della Galway (Serena Evans) has moved into a new job and a new flat. As she cannot afford the rent, she gets Rosamund who works at the same office to flatshare.

Only problem is. Della is conscientious at work. She is security conscious at home, making sure all the doors and windows are locked.

Unfortunately Rosamund is very lax about security. She is lazy at work, spending time gossiping and complaining about her boyfriend.

Maybe if the story delved more into Della's life, it could had been better. This is a stripped down version of what could had been an interesting story.

If only Della got a character reference about her new flatmate.

The penultimate episode delivers a plot. It is noticeable a lot of the excitement from the first episode went away a long time ago. Such as the opening chase scene.

Kirby has been shot and is injured. He manages to get his wound dressed by his ex wife. Staying up on his feet with the help of some booze.

Kirby needs Laura's assistance. He must meet her stepfather Fane and come to some sort of arrangement. Kirby needs Fane to believe him that Dr Vincent is a Russian asset.

It seems Kirby has been working freelance for the security services to make some extra money. He is still working the angles for a big payday.

With the plot explained, at least the viewer has a fair idea of the story before the finale. Only Kirby's informants are not doing well.

After the broadcast of Deadly Obsession in 1992. Kathleen Calhaem wrote to the Broadcasting Standards Council claiming her portrayal was unfair. Her complaint was rejected. She was in prison at the time for procuring murder.

This crime story very much sticks to the facts. Kathleen Calhaem (Janet Henfrey) was a well to do and tough as nails businesswoman. She lived with another woman and could not even be described as unconventionally beautiful.

Somehow Calhaem became obsessed with local solicitor Kenneth Pigot. He was having a long term affair with a married woman Shirley Rendell. Her husband was a good friend of Pigot.

Calhaem hatched a plan to get rid off Shirley. The patsy was Julan Zajac who also went by the name of Julian Jones, a private investigator who drank too much and gambled a lot.

He was paid £10,000 by the unhinged Calhaem to kill Shirley Rendell in 1983.

I did wonder why this story was chosen. Although factual based, was it about an ugly lesbian who became infatuated by a man. The psychology regarding both Calhaem and Zajac was missing. What we get here is threadbare, almost comical.

Henfrey is very good as the manipulative Kathleen Calhaem. She would be forever known as the teacher in The Singing Detective.

Kathleen Calhaem will not be complaining about my review. She was later released from prison and died in 2006.

What is it with British killers with the variation of the name Neilson. Dennis Nilsen was a Scottish serial killer caught in the early 1980s.

Donald Neilson was the Black Panther in the 1970s. A notorious burglar turned Post Officer robber. Later he kidnapped a wealthy heiress.

Neilson had a messy unhappy upbringing but found his feet in the army during National Service. Although he was a builder, he supplemented his income by carrying out burglaries in the 1960s in the north of England.

In the 1970s he robbed sub Post Offices with armed weapons and he was not afraid to fire a gun. Although Neilson planned these robberies with military precision. Several were bungled leaving dead people behind.

As the post office stepped up security. Neilson hot on an idea to kidnap seventeen year old heiress Lesley Whittle and hold her for ransom. The ransom part was bungled and Lesley was later found dead.

Dubbed the Black Panther has he was decked out in a black hood and he moved speedily. He was caught almost by chance.

Fred Dinenage had covered the story of the Black Panther as a news reporter in the 1970s. Here he talks to some of the policemen who help apprehend this violent criminal.

Duncan of Stoneykirk returns, the Highland outlaw who Robin Hood once helped.

Now Robin Hood is on a top secret mission for King Richard. To go to Scotland and collect 500 gold crowns owed to Richard by King William of Scotland.

So Robin sets off with Friar Tuck. Only when he gets to the Scots countryside, they are ambushed by outlaws. Luckily they are part of Duncan's gang.

So there is all sorts of merriment and they partake in some Highland games. Robin turns down Duncan's offer of help. Knowing he would want a share of the gold crowns.

Only King William of Scotland is reluctant for the coins to leave Scotland. Setting up a ambush so he can have the coins back. Luckily Duncan is there to help.

A neat little story but I did wonder why Robin only took one person to accompany him and it had to be the unfit Friar Tuck.

It could be a race to the altar. Granny is convinced that Sonny Drysdale will propose to Elly May. He mentioned something about giving her a ring.

While Granny was eavesdropping from a tree. She is determined that both Elly May and Sonny get together soon. At 18 years of age she Elly May might as well be an old maid.

When Cousin Pearl hears about Elly May possibly getting married. She wants her daughter Jethrine to beat her to it. So Cousin Pearl wants to hook up Jethrine with Jasper Depew.

All this talk of marriage comes as a shock to Sonny. He regards himself as the last of the playboys.

Well at least someone in the Clampett household has got to grips with the telephone. Maybe not where the doorbell sound comes from.

Jessica Fletcher goes to the races and finds her niece Tracy MacGill is a last minute replacement as a jockey. Carlos who was scheduled to ride a horse has suddenly fallen ill.

Racehorse owner Jack Bowen is doing something dodgy, Such as doping a horse, he has already upset mobsters in Vegas who have lost out to heavy betting on an outsider.

Tracy rides her horse to win. Only Jack Bowen is found dead and Tracy is arrested.

Jessica needs to track down the real killer. The police chief seems unconcerned that there is little evidence against Tracy.

I found the structure to be messy. Too many suspects, some portrayed so heavy handed to be the likely ones.

Some of the characters betting on the horses were better.

I saw the repeat of this episode probably some time in the early 1990s or late 1980s. Hence why I had that abiding memory of Dixon stuck behind his police desk with some green walls. It's as miserable as a police station could get.

The events in the episode also had some relevance in the 80s and 90s as well. It was still rare for police to be armed and there were several incidents of unarmed men to be shot by the police. In a few instances, the wrong man.

After receiving a tip off regarding the whereabouts of some armed robbers. Sergeant Dixon arms some of his police officers which includes DI Crawford.

While searching for the armed men in a house. Crawford seems to have tripped and then shots were fired. One of the robber's is wounded. There seems to be no oral warning given by the police officers and guns were found when the robbers were arrested.

Detective Chief Superintendent Donovan (Percy Herbert) has been tasked to find out what happened. The press will have a field day if it comes to light that the men were unarmed.

The officers involved have to justify their actions and they also seem to give conflicting accounts. Even Dixon ends up in conflict with Crawford as he tries to leave the police station.

The outside location shooting in film were murky as to leave the viewer confused as to what happened. So no one has any idea what happened as Donovan tries to put the pieces together.

It was an effective episode as the officers are investigates, be away from their families and not communicate with each other. Donivan is like a bulldog but at the end gets a fair idea as to what occurred.

I still think the show did not clear up that an unarmed man was shot and some of the police officers were not suitably trained as armed officers.

The irony is not lost that the opening and closing speech was given by a police officer who had been shot dead.

When Russell T Davies decided to get the band together for his second ear as Doctor Who showrunner.

It also included bringing back his star guest writer and eventual successor Steven Moffat. Will he bring back his old box of tricks or does he have a few new twists with a few tweaks of the algorithm.

Boom is all about tension which slowly ratchets up. The Doctor arrives at Kastarian 3 where a battle takes place with the Anglican clerics and some unseen monsters inhabiting it.

Only for the Doctor to step on the landmine, manufactured by the Villengard corporation. They make a lot of money from war.

Ruby needs to help the Doctor from blowing himself up.

A simple structure with ever emerging problems. It transpires that the Doctor could take most of the planet with him.

There are callbacks to Moffat's previous episodes. Such as priests as warriors. Villengard that the Doctor turned to a banana plantation.

It relies on tension and acting from the main performers. Especially from Ncuti Gatwa.

The third series opens with Worzel Gummidge and Aunt Sally living together on Scatterbrook Farm. Just like a real married couple.

Worzel is cooking breakfast as Aunt Sally demands twelve sausages as well as toast. The full English as the pig runs away from the farm.

Only the breakfast is not cooked. Worzel is afraid to turn on the stove in case Worzel catches fire.

It turns out that the Braithwaites and the Peters families have gone abroad on holiday. Worzel and Aunt Sally have moved in and caused a mess.

Harry, the man meant to look after the farm has not bothered to show up. It is left to the Crowman to clear up the mess.

The third series have gone more for frolics, although it might not make sense if you think about it. How did Worzel Gummidge know that useless Harry would not show up to look after the farm.

In fact who did feed the animals while the Braithwaites were away? It seems the rest of the farmhands were absent.