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.
"Enter Two Gardeners" for me is not quite of the best 'Rosemary and Thyme', a show of mostly consistently never less than good standard with the only disappointment being "The Gooseberry Bush", episodes but is very good all the same. It is slight but at no point does it feel dull, and is not a case of not being enough suspects.
Did not find the motive that much of a surprise and figured the identity of the murderer too early. It occasionally is a bit overdone on the humour front.
Visually, "Enter Two Gardeners" 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 Rosemary and especially Laura is very funny. The story is one of the simpler ones of the show but has some twisty elements without being too convoluted, and is entertaining and with a relaxing vibe without being simplistic. Loved the purposefully melodramatic and theatrical approach and Laura's role is a lot of fun to watch and gives Pam Ferris a chance to show off her comedic chops.
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.
Overall, very good that could have been great with a less obvious denouement. 8/10 Bethany Cox