Inspector George Gently (TV Series) Gently in the Night (2009) User Reviews

Father Brown finds himself as a possible suspect.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 28 July 2018]

I find myself concurring with the reviewer who put off watching the series, not sure of whether it would be to their taste or not, I'm so glad I decided to give it a go, The Innocents got me hooked, and this is another fine episode.

The story is very clever, so well and tightly written. The production values are fantastic, it's a glorious looking production, some fantastic costumes, the music and filmography work well too, talk about transported back to the sixties. An interesting insight into capital punishment, and the views on abortion, attitudes in general seemed very different.

In this episode we learn more about the character of Sergeant Bacchus, at this stage I find him somewhat unpleasant, definitely hypocritical, utterly against abortion, but happy to break his marriage vows, I think it's possible that Gently took a little pleasure in flattening him.

Great performances once again, for me Mark Williams shone brightest, an actor I adore in Father Brown, here he proves just how versatile an actor he truly is, a fantastic performance.

A very confident episode, enjoyed it very much, 8/10

People's Motives in Viewing/A Good Series

[Absalom1991 · 8/10 · 19 August 2015]

The George Gently series (in the American sense) has been a pleasant surprise. The scripts are smart and usually avoid pomposity. The 1960s setting is managed in a fun, usually subdued way that lets things look like reality for the times rather than a "look at all this retro kitsch!" camp trip. Cinematography is excellent, sets and costumes are great and show a generous budget, editing is clean, direction is well-paced. The characters are believable enough, and the actors are very good. It offers a pleasant mix of police-show subgenres.

The only downside is a tendency at the end of each episode for an overlong and tedious summing up, with moralisms, explanations, and overacting that drags things down for 5-10 minutes. By then the plot has resolved so I usually divert myself with something else until they're finished. This episode was characteristic of the positive qualities of the show - and the small- scale negative tendencies.

Other reviews here seem confused, but people watch for their own reasons and are welcome to their priorities, of course. But.

Someone who saw Gently as a meanie and was disappointed that he seemed like too much of a good guy in this episode wasn't paying close attention in earlier episodes. Gently is not Morse. (For that matter, neither was Morse, when you get down to it.) Gently is, if anything, a bit too smoothly superior about his high moral code and his down-to-earth persona.

And the person who cannot abide television shows unless they align with her own moral code not only will inevitably miss the deeper meanings of popular art, but will likely get things wrong. Taking this episode and praising it for calling aborted fetuses babies and complaining that a show about a Playboy-bunny-type establishment shows scanty costumes perhaps needs to go back to "Highway to Heaven" and "Touched by an Angel" in order to better fulfill her preferences. The point is that the show does have an ethical basis, expressed in a historical context where sexism and other benighted attitudes prevailed.

However, as a gay person I can't help wondering if the reviewer approved Bacchus' homophobia or Gently's tolerance in the last episode.

Into the night

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 25 May 2018]

As a huge fan of detective/crime/mystery series, there is the admission that it took me a while to start watching 'Inspector George Gently', worrying as to whether it would appeal to me for "can't put my finger on it" reasons other than being young at the time and not being as knowledgeable of the period. Getting into the show eight years ago and continuing to watch it without fail, it turned out to be simply wonderful and actually became a favourite.

After a very solid, if still settling, start in "Gently Go Man", it felt like 'Inspector George Gently' started to hit its stride with "The Burning Man" and that continued with "Bomber's Moon". The show hit a high point here with "Gently with the Innocents" and "Gently in the Night" is very nearly as good. There is a lot here already that is particularly good about 'Inspector George Gently' and it definitely makes one want to carry on watching.

"Gently in the Night" is not quite as good as the previous episode "Gently with the Innocents", slightly lacking that episode's emotional impact which is the sole reason really for not putting it on that episode's level. It is indicative though that the show has found its feet. For my tastes, the ending does ramble a bit and could have been shorter, though it intrigues still.

However, "Gently in the Night", like the rest of the show, looks great, often beautiful. It is strikingly filmed and the scenery and period detail are atmospheric, handsome and evocative, a lot of work and care went into re-creating the period and it shows loud and clear. The music is stirring and haunting, dynamic with what's going on and never intrusive.

The writing already shows a lot of thought-provoking intelligence and balances subtle humour and drama very well and executing both individually just as well. The direction is alert and accommodating and the story, despite having an air of familiarity at times and not as rich as other stories for other episodes, is easy to follow and absorbing with a good deal of suspense. "Gently in the Night", and 'Inspector Gently' in general, is very interesting for how British law was like in the 60s and how much it's changed and come on compared to now.

Love the chemistry between Gently and Bacchus, one of the most interesting and well-contrasted detective/crime/mystery drama pairings (perhaps the most interesting since Morse and Lewis). The two couldn't have more different personalities and how they gel and clash entertains and intrigues. Both are fascinating characters already, and became even more fascinating as the show progressed.

Can't fault the acting, the continually brilliant performances from Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby here and throughout the show are career highs for both actors. All the support is good.

Summing up, excellent. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Another excellent episode

[grantss · 9/10 · 23 July 2022]

Another excellent episode in the series. Like the previous episode it has a great moral theme, this time around abortion and the lives of cocktail waitresses. The mystery is very intriguing and the perpetrator is not at all obvious.

Religious people portrayed as zealots

[ctyankee1 · 22 July 2013]

This episode is about a woman found dead and laid on a altar like table in a church. She was murdered. She was portrayed as a nurse but that was not her job she was a prostitute.

There are several suspects but the writer went after the people that were against this type of lifestyle and women's health issues like abortion and birth control pills.

1. It had several women/cocktail waitresses dressed like call girls to temp the customers in the restaurant .

2. It has people protesting abortion and their ideas were mocked and their belief in God. Mrs Bishop the religious zealot was made to be target as being a suspect.

In the end the killer is not who they thought it was. Gently does use honest language that says a "baby" is killed regarding abortion not like series in the US where they say "fetus/product of conception" etc.

I do like a lot of things about the Gently series, he is honest and tough. His partner Bacchus is smart and a jerk at times.

What don't like in this episode the women are dressed to sexy and that the killer is not injured. The police have guns but Gently won't let them use them when the killers escapes or runs away. He tells the police not to shoot that the person is unarmed. This makes no sense to me letting killers get away and not injuring them because they are unarmed.

There are lots of good values in this series but like anything else it has propaganda and inaccuracies about people that believe in God that don't know how to make the sign of the Cross and how they act out their lives.

Bacchus is a sleaze

[lbowdls · 6/10 · 30 October 2022]

Not only is this a very predictable episode. This is also the episode which is the epitome of why I give the whole series a 6. I actually accidentally watched it twice.

This is where the married Bacchus is sleazing around with your 60's London club girls, while trying to solve one of their murders. I really hate the Bacchus Character because of episodes like this. It also really puts you in the middle of the criminal and unpleasant underbelly of Britain in the 60's which should be enjoyable but is not in most episodes like this.

Really don't understand the high ratings for this episode and the show in general.

Good series marred by weak pro-abortion plot

[grahamstreek · 4/10 · 5 October 2022]

I love this series. Great acting throughout (particularly the wonderful Eileen Colgan's performance). Unfortunately I had to turn this episode off three quarters of the way through. I just got more and more angry with the weak, tired pro-abortion storyline. It's so innacurate to portray all women who seek to kill their unborn children as victims, and those who carry out this inhuman brutality as saints. At the very least this divisive issue could be addressed in an even handed way instead of trying to claim a moral high ground whilst scewing the facts to suit a personal opinion. The cases mentioned in the program were, surprise surprise, a victim of rape, the standard argument for the pro-abortion lobby, even though this accounts for a tiny percentage of abortions; and an adulterer who had no choice but to kill the child so it wouldn't be an embarrassment. Just sickening.

Bacchus Down the Toilet

[Warin_West-El · 4/10 · 29 May 2023]

The married Bacchus is sleazing around with 60's London club girls, while trying to solve one of their murders.

Last season Bacchus was merely a self-righteous idiot. This season the screenwriters have transformed the character into a despicable menace. Unlike the script, a real life George Gently would never tolerate a partner like John because there are just too many character flaws which could potentially result in him ruining cases.

Unfortunately, like other BBC productions, this series imposes "leftist" values into the plots. A religious woman is portrayed as a zealot. Abortionists are portrayed as saintly stewards of society.

Nevertheless - so far - the writing has been tight and the audience has not been bombarded with a fuselage of plot holes.

The one good moment in this story was Gently putting the kibosh on Bacchus. Although, I would have preferred to see Bacchus suffer a bit more before he went down for the count.