Have always adored detective dramas/mystery series. This has been apparent from an early age, half my life even, when getting into Agatha Christie through Joan Hickson's Miss Marple and David Suchet's Poirot and into 'Inspector Morse'.
Whether it's the more complex ones like 'Inspector Morse' (and its prequel series 'Endeavour') and anything Agatha Christie. Whether it's the grittier ones like 'A Touch of Frost' (though that is balanced brilliantly with comedy too) and particularly 'Taggart'. And whether it's the light-hearted ones like 'Murder She Wrote'. 'Rosemary and Thyme' is an example of a light-hearted detective mystery series and always gives me a lot of pleasures and banishes the blues when watching. It is a shame that it didn't last longer because it deserved to.
"Sweet Angelica" is a good 'Rosemary and Thyme' episode but is not one of the best and a bit disappointing. It is let down by the murderer being obvious too early and other episodes have much better ways of deducing "who done it" and how the conclusion was come to, this one was far too simplistic.
Also found the conclusion somewhat rushed and unsurprising, due to everything being prematurely obvious. There are a lot of characters here and keeping up with them and the name dropping was not always easy.
However, there are many great things.
Visually, "Sweet Angelica" looks wonderful, beautifully photographed, vibrant in colour and as always with the show with a stunning setting, have always been envious of the gardens seen on the show. The music has a lot of charm with a main theme tune that is soothingly folksy that matches the whimsy of the setting appropriately.
The writing is engaging and suitably light-hearted without being frothy. Some of the dialogue for Laura and especially Rosemary is very funny. The story is suitably twisty generally without being convoluted, and is entertaining and with a relaxing vibe without being simplistic.
Similarly the characters engage, with Rosemary and Laura already being interesting and distinct in personality, and the chemistry between the two sparkles. Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris are simply great, individually and as a sparkling double act, love Kendal's fire and feistiness and Ferris' more restrained and thoughtful approach. The supporting cast are hard to find fault with too, James Weber Brown in particular adds a lot.
On the whole, good episode but not one of my favourites. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Whether it's the more complex ones like 'Inspector Morse' (and its prequel series 'Endeavour') and anything Agatha Christie. Whether it's the grittier ones like 'A Touch of Frost' (though that is balanced brilliantly with comedy too) and particularly 'Taggart'. And whether it's the light-hearted ones like 'Murder She Wrote'. 'Rosemary and Thyme' is an example of a light-hearted detective mystery series and always gives me a lot of pleasures and banishes the blues when watching. It is a shame that it didn't last longer because it deserved to.
"Sweet Angelica" is a good 'Rosemary and Thyme' episode but is not one of the best and a bit disappointing. It is let down by the murderer being obvious too early and other episodes have much better ways of deducing "who done it" and how the conclusion was come to, this one was far too simplistic.
Also found the conclusion somewhat rushed and unsurprising, due to everything being prematurely obvious. There are a lot of characters here and keeping up with them and the name dropping was not always easy.
However, there are many great things.
Visually, "Sweet Angelica" looks wonderful, beautifully photographed, vibrant in colour and as always with the show with a stunning setting, have always been envious of the gardens seen on the show. The music has a lot of charm with a main theme tune that is soothingly folksy that matches the whimsy of the setting appropriately.
The writing is engaging and suitably light-hearted without being frothy. Some of the dialogue for Laura and especially Rosemary is very funny. The story is suitably twisty generally without being convoluted, and is entertaining and with a relaxing vibe without being simplistic.
Similarly the characters engage, with Rosemary and Laura already being interesting and distinct in personality, and the chemistry between the two sparkles. Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris are simply great, individually and as a sparkling double act, love Kendal's fire and feistiness and Ferris' more restrained and thoughtful approach. The supporting cast are hard to find fault with too, James Weber Brown in particular adds a lot.
On the whole, good episode but not one of my favourites. 7/10 Bethany Cox
