"The last detective. That's what you are, Dangerous: the last detective I'll ever think of, unless it's a crap job, see? Then you'll be the first." - Rob Spendlove as Detective Inspector Aspinall
The Last Detective: Series 1 DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
Detective Constable "Dangerous" Davies (At Home with the Braithwaites' Peter Davison) will never be confused with Magnum, P.I. He can barely keep up with a suspect who has a twisted ankle, and when he finally corners the guy, Davies is so winded that the perp reads his rights to himself. With his thinning hair and somewhat schlubby taste in clothing, Davies looks nothing like fellow officers Detective Sergeant Pimlott (Charles De'Ath) and DC Darren Barrett (Billy Geraghty) who prefer to rifle through unclaimed property to find Armani suits rather than actually solve cases. They consider Davies to be so ineffectual and timid that they have given him the ironic nickname "Dangerous." Even though Davies cracks more than his fair share of cases, his boss, DI Aspinall (Rob Spendlove), deems him "useless" and vows to give him only the most boring assignments that come across his desk. Davies' home life isn't any better. He and his wife Julie (Emma Amos) are in the midst of a divorce. They share custody of a cow-sized dog that fills Davies' car whenever he takes him for a romp in the park. Davies' best friend is Mod Lewis (Sean Hughes), an oddball who performs odd jobs like walking dogs, tutoring Japanese nannies in English, and conducting weird surveys for the government. Despite his multitude of jobs, Mod often has free time and offers Davies his expert "help" on cases.
In the first series, Davies investigates four main mysteries:
The Last Detective (Pilot): Davies is assigned one of his usual "crap jobs," but within the file, he discovers clues to an unsolved missing persons case from 1982. He takes the initiative to try solving the mystery of the missing 17 year old girl while simultaneously working on his actual assigned case. Unfortunately, Davies' initiative seems like secrecy and insubordination to DI Aspinall.
Dangerous by Moonlight: Thanks to Mod, Davies is stuck investigating the disappearance of a dance club regular's husband. The problem is that the woman doesn't seem all too concerned about her missing husband.
Tricia: Dangerous takes on two cases shunned by the rest of the department. In one, an elderly lady is sure that her neighbor has killed his wife, hacked her up, and is systematically flushing her down the toilet. In the other, a demanding female robbery victim seems to become enamored with Davies.
Lofty: When Davies' homeless pal turns up dead in a canal, he decides to take on the case.
The series manages to feature tightly plotted mysteries while retaining a strong sense of humor. The cases are actually engrossing, and there are no out-of-nowhere solutions. The first episode in particular does an excellent job of introducing us to the characters and their quirks, playing with our assumptions. When Davies talks about having to go to his wife's house, we believe that he is going to pick up a child. Actually, it turns out to be the aforementioned slobbery dog. This wry humor continues throughout the four episodes. Mod learns to drive because he's gained employment as a "service executive in the mobile catering industry." As it turns out, he's become a pizza delivery man. When Davies is being stalked by a crazed woman involved in one of his cases, Mod admits that a woman once stalked him, buying him clothes and giving him money. He never called the police because, "it'd be a cruel man who'd turn in his own mother."
The writing is terrific, but the series also greatly benefits from the presence of Davison. His performance conveys the character's sadness and ineptitude while simultaneously convincing us that Davies is a damn good detective. Davies is an everyman who can easily be related to - unlucky in love, underappreciated at work, practically invisible in his own life. He may have garbage thrown at him by kids in public housing and he may have to deal with every nut that walks into the precinct, but in the end he always solves the case.
The Last Detective is reminiscent of a British Rockford Files - a congenial but underappreciated lead solves crimes that no one else can be bothered with. The biggest difference between the two shows is that The Last Detective places a bit more emphasis on the cases. The biggest mystery here, though, is why the series doesn't seem to have been picked up by an American TV outlet. Sure, A&E is too busy with reality shows starring roller derby queens to bother with much British TV anymore, but The Last Detective would fit in perfectly with PBS' Mystery!.
Guests in series one include I, Claudius's Sian Phillips.
The four episodes that make up series one of The Last Detective are divided onto two discs. The discs are housed in standard-sized keepcases which slide into a cardboard outer sleeve. The back of each keepcase includes brief synopses of the episodes found on the DVD.
The 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.
