I had seen reference to The Last Detective when I was reading about Peter Davison in all the Doctor Who material I see. It sounded like something I might like so I put it on my Library queue. I watched the first series and really enjoyed it. It's an ITV police show with Peter Davison playing Detective Constable "Dangerous" Davies. The series was produced by Granada and it's based on the Leslie Thomas novels. I hadn't read any of those even though I had one, it may still be up in the attic. There were 4 series, starting in 2003, before they stopped production. That first series has four episodes, a pilot which runs 96 minutes and 3 more that run 72 minutes each. It was filmed in the north London suburbs of Willesden, Neasden and Harlesden. It looks both nice and run down. A place for plenty of characters and that's what drives the show. It's not a high powered crime drama like Waking The Dead. It's much easier going, milder even than Midsomer Murders, and it's got a nice sense of humor.
Speaking of nice, Davies is a nice cop who has been demoted for testifying against another officer. This all happens off screen before the series starts. The detectives in his squad don't like him and his boss treats him like shit. Still he's got a good head on his shoulders and a great sense of fair play. His boss, a bit of a dick, piles on all the shitty jobs. Davies takes the abuse, keeps an even temper and works hard. He can be pushed too far. He helps a good number of people, though it starts poorly for him when he discovers the murderer of a young girl, dead 20 years, has some connection to his police station. In the other three stories he continues to doggedly chase down the clues and solve his cases. Davies has separated from his wife and his lives in a room in a boarding house. They still interact as she keeps his giant pet dog at the house they used to have together. Davies is pals with Mod (short for Modesty) Lewis played by the Irish comedian Sean Hughes. I really only know him from Never Mind The Buzzcocks. He was a regular team leader from 1996 to 2002. He was pretty funny there and he's funny here. He plays a shifty kind of guy who's always on the lookout for some new way to make money. They get along together and Mod helps Davis at times. I'm definitely going to take a shot at the other series. A bunch of them have popped up at the library, ready to pickup tomorrow.
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