"I didn't go into this to make money. Well, not just to make money. I don't like mess. People whose live have got into a mess ask for help. It's right to help." - Patricia Routledge as Hetty Wainthropp
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates: Complete Second Series DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
In Missing Persons, novelist David Cook first introduced the character of Hetty Wainthropp, a British retiree who develops a taste for solving mysteries when asked to track down the long-lost son of an elderly friend. Cook adapted the novel into a TV movie starring Patricia Routledge for Britain's ITV in 1990. Although the movie was meant to serve as a series pilot, ITV ultimately chose not to develop a Wainthropp series. The movie aired in Britain, but was never broadcast on American TV (although it was released on DVD here earlier this year.
Ordinarily, that would have been the end of the story. Pilot films that fail to become actual series are not uncommon. Things changed, however, when Routledge's BBC series Keeping Up Appearances became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic. The sitcom features Routledge as pretentious Hyacinth Bucket, an upwardly mobile housewife whose haughty, snobbish demeanor belie her lower class roots (she even insists that her last name is actually pronounced "Bouquet".) The series became a staple on local PBS stations, and Routledge's dead-on performance made her a star.
When Keeping Up Appearances wrapped up its run in 1994, Routledge's newfound cachet spurred renewed interest in the character she helped to create in Missing Persons. The movie's cast and concept was tweaked slightly, and in 1996, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates: Complete First Series made its debut on the BBC and PBS. Three other Wainthropp series followed over the next two years.
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates: Complete Second Series continues the exploits of this P.I. in sensible shoes. As the second series begins, Wainthropp has received so much acclaim for solving crimes that new cases are pouring in. Her husband, Robert (Derek Benfield, Rumpole of the Bailey), thinks they should simply take on the easiest cases that offer the most money. Hetty dismisses this idea. She wants to help people, not just make money. And after all, Robert is so cheap.er, practical. that he isn't even willing to purchase a used car to aid in their investigations. Instead, Hetty must zip around on a scooter driven by Geoffrey Shawcross (Dominic Monaghan, Lost), a formerly homeless teen who is now her loyal assistant.
Together, the three make for the world's most unlikely detective team. Hetty is, of course, the lead investigator, and her cases often require her to go undercover. Undercover work often puts Hetty in danger, but she can usually rely on the help of Detective Chief Inspector Adams (John Graham-Davies) who encourages Hetty to take on cases that the police cannot investigate.
Hetty investigates six cases in series two:
Poison Pen: Hetty goes undercover to determine who has been sending vile poison pen letters to residents of a small village.
Lost Chords: Finalists in a singing contest are mysteriously losing their voices. The contest's sponsor hires Hetty to find the saboteur so that the show can go on.
Not All There (Runaways): Hetty must find the missing daughter of the Mayor of Titterslow without notifying either the police or the press.
The Astral Plane: Hetty pretends to be a rich widow in a sting meant to expose a psychic who may be extorting money from the distraught participants in her séances.
A Rose By Any Other Name: Is the fiancée of a wealthy widow marrying her for financial reasons?
Woman of the Year: Hetty enters a shelter for abused women to find out who leaked its secret location to the violent husband of one of the home's residents.
Truth be told, none of these mysteries are very mysterious. Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is one of those shows where viewers aren't necessarily invited to play along in trying to guess whodunit. Hetty mostly solves the case in her head and reveals her findings at the end of the episode. Routledge is appealing as always, and Benefield's portrayal of the miserly Robert is often a hoot. Viewers familiar with Monaghan from Lost and the Lord of the Rings trilogy will be greatly amused by his meek, baby-faced character in this show.
Still, one wishes that the series tried a bit harder. The series cannot decide whether it is a straightforward mystery or a Remington Steele-style romp in which the cases take a back seat to the relationships between the main characters. As a result, neither the plotlines nor the characters are as focused as they could be.
The six episodes (including two that did not air on PBS) that make up Hetty Wainthropp Investigates: Complete Second Series are divided onto three discs. The discs are housed in three standard-sized keepcases which slide into a cardboard slipcover. The back of each keepcase includes brief synopses of the episodes found on the DVDs.
The static menus are simple and functional. Viewers can choose to watch an entire episode or can jump directly to a scene using the "Scene Selection" menu.
