A great episode ruined by intrusive boring incidental music. A lot of the musical stings make no sense in relation to what's happening on-screen. It's as if someone in the editing suite said "just keep chucking more music on top of every scene!" - A sadly common occurrence in this 22nd series of Taggart. That aside, the main cast are excellent. They work well together and by this point are like a family unit rather than just colleagues. The banter from DCI Burke on Edinburgh was very funny and very Glaswegian: "Aw that tartan and bagpipes, I feel like I'm in bloody Brigadoon!".
3 Reviews
Murderous taste
TheLittleSongbird8 December 2020
"A Taste of Money" was one of my first 'Taggart' episodes when getting into the show fifteen or so years ago. It struck me as a good episode on first watch but not a great one, and never has been one of my favourites. As well as my overall love for 'Taggart' (though it did start feeling tired and not as intelligent in the later seasons and suffered from the shorter length), the concept is a very appetising one. Not the most original on the block but it really did sound interesting.
On the whole, "A Taste of Money" was an interesting and well done episode. My feelings on it on re-watches have been pretty much the same in terms of what works and what doesn't, except with understanding more of what goes on it has improved. Is "A Taste of Money" a great episode? Not quite. There are 'Taggart' episodes that are better before and since, ones that grabbed me more. There are also worse on both counts, a few of which surprisingly as of now rated higher than this episode.
Do agree actually that the music has gone downhill. Loved it before, but, other than the timeless theme tune, around this time it became very at odds with the action and intrusive as well at times repetitive. The case here.
It is on the slightly routine side on occasions, with a slow start and with a slight feel of the show starting to run out of ideas.
However, as indicated above, "A Taste of Money" is still good. As usual for 'Taggart', it is well-made visually, with the usual grit and moodiness in the photography. The scenery is both picturesque and unforgiving. The script intrigues, pulls no punches and there is some entertaining banter within the team. Burke has some fun lines. The team interaction is always cohesive and there is never a disconnect, with some nice banter and also intensity. Burke took a while to get used to when he first appeared in 'Taggart' but he grew on me and while he is stern and authoritative he is not as much of an abrasive bully now. It is a very well acted episode, lead and supporting, Alex Norton really throws himself into the character of Burke.
The story avoids trying to do too much but at the same time it is not too simple either, the tone is suitably disturbingly uncompromising (including one of the most brutal murder methods of the Burke episodes), one is kept guessing right to the end who the killer is through a lot of clever and plausible twists and twists, what the motive is (not too obvious) and the climax is memorably dramatic without being over-the-top.
Overall, good and interesting but not great. 7/10
On the whole, "A Taste of Money" was an interesting and well done episode. My feelings on it on re-watches have been pretty much the same in terms of what works and what doesn't, except with understanding more of what goes on it has improved. Is "A Taste of Money" a great episode? Not quite. There are 'Taggart' episodes that are better before and since, ones that grabbed me more. There are also worse on both counts, a few of which surprisingly as of now rated higher than this episode.
Do agree actually that the music has gone downhill. Loved it before, but, other than the timeless theme tune, around this time it became very at odds with the action and intrusive as well at times repetitive. The case here.
It is on the slightly routine side on occasions, with a slow start and with a slight feel of the show starting to run out of ideas.
However, as indicated above, "A Taste of Money" is still good. As usual for 'Taggart', it is well-made visually, with the usual grit and moodiness in the photography. The scenery is both picturesque and unforgiving. The script intrigues, pulls no punches and there is some entertaining banter within the team. Burke has some fun lines. The team interaction is always cohesive and there is never a disconnect, with some nice banter and also intensity. Burke took a while to get used to when he first appeared in 'Taggart' but he grew on me and while he is stern and authoritative he is not as much of an abrasive bully now. It is a very well acted episode, lead and supporting, Alex Norton really throws himself into the character of Burke.
The story avoids trying to do too much but at the same time it is not too simple either, the tone is suitably disturbingly uncompromising (including one of the most brutal murder methods of the Burke episodes), one is kept guessing right to the end who the killer is through a lot of clever and plausible twists and twists, what the motive is (not too obvious) and the climax is memorably dramatic without being over-the-top.
Overall, good and interesting but not great. 7/10
Very good episode.
Sleepin_Dragon1 April 2024
A temperamental restaurant critic is murdered, The team are convinced that former temperamental chef, Murray Fettle, an ex con is responsible.
I rather enjoyed this one, some really nice elements, the macabre discovery, a blast from Stuart's past, and who doesn't love a temperamental chef.
Quite a bloodthirsty episode this one, it's more like Midsomer Murders.
Burke's irritation at having to go to Edinburgh was amusing, that scene in the car with Jackie was funny. A hark back to the Mark McManus years, he was never happy to go to the Capital either.
It's only really dated by the clothes and technology, who remembers having an MP3 player, boy those things were so fiddly.
This one benefits from having a wonderful cast, Ashley Jensen, Stella Gonet and Struan Rodger (that's a voice I could listen to all day.)
Hard to fault.
8/10.
I rather enjoyed this one, some really nice elements, the macabre discovery, a blast from Stuart's past, and who doesn't love a temperamental chef.
Quite a bloodthirsty episode this one, it's more like Midsomer Murders.
Burke's irritation at having to go to Edinburgh was amusing, that scene in the car with Jackie was funny. A hark back to the Mark McManus years, he was never happy to go to the Capital either.
It's only really dated by the clothes and technology, who remembers having an MP3 player, boy those things were so fiddly.
This one benefits from having a wonderful cast, Ashley Jensen, Stella Gonet and Struan Rodger (that's a voice I could listen to all day.)
Hard to fault.
8/10.
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