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Jericho of Scotland Yard
Score: 81%
Rating: Not Rated
Publisher: Acorn Media
Region: 1
Media: DVD/2
Running Time: 376 Mins.
Genre: Crime/Drama/TV Series
Audio: English 2.0 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH

Jericho of Scotland Yard, starring Robert Lindsay as DI Michael Jericho, is a cop drama series that takes place in the late 1950's in London and just oozes noirish personality, authenticity and style. Jericho is a no-nonsense cop that is also a bit of a media whore, but who can argue with the man when he solves so many high profile cases?

On his team are Sgt. Clive Harvey (David Troughton), with whom he's worked for some 20 years, and new to the team is DC John Caldicott (Ciarán McMenamin), who finds himself working insane hours with his demanding new boss, much to the chagrin of his steady girl Angela (Lydia Leonard).

Jericho has plenty of personal baggage that he brings to the force, namely his cop father who was gunned down in front of him when he was just a boy. This murder comes right after his dad began investigating prominent and wealthy local crime boss Stephen Fleming (Peter Bowles), a man Jericho still hunts to this day. Jericho is single, married only to the job, but beautiful French prostitute Juliette (Aurélie Bargème) lives in the apartment above him and both are lonely souls who stay up late and naturally, they are drawn to one another. Time and again, Juliette will find herself threatened and her friendship with Jericho being used against him by fellow cop and thug Christie (Brendan Coyle), a pawn of Fleming's.

There are four feature-length episodes to the series and, while long, they each pack quite a punch as they tell their own stories in the cases Jericho and company must solve, but also advance the personal stories of the regular characters as well. The first is "A Pair of Ragged Claws" and has Jericho and team trying to solve the murder of a young black man amidst racially tense times in London, while a wealthy businessman is kidnapped the same night. Jericho must balance the two cases with emotions riding high in both, but could they be connected? A very young Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones) guest stars as a hate-filled racist suspect.

In "The Killing of Johnny Swan," local running superstar Johnny Swan (William Ash) is set to race against the Russian nemesis he defeated a year ago, and following his wedding to racy dancer Lizzie Way (Annabelle Wallis), he and his new bride are found brutally murdered in the honeymoon suite... or is it a case of mistaken identity? As Jericho and the boys unravel the case, they discover Cold War intrigue, family woes, and hidden proclivities once they begin to investigate Johnny and his teammates.

"To Murder and Create" finds Jericho's group investigating the murder of a prominent scientist associated with the H bomb. As other, more mundane, male victims start to appear, the crew suspects it could be tied to a matchmaking service that caters to women seeking men. When Jericho has to pose as a potential date, will he become the next victim or maybe find true love? Who am I kidding - he'll find the killer, of course.

Last, but not least, is the best of the bunch called "The Hollow Men" featuring a mysterious murderer who strikes in the thick London smog currently clutching the entire city. He butchers young couples, specifically gutting the male victims while quickly killing the females. As Jericho and his men work the case, Caldicott has serious issues with his asthma and also has his very own upcoming wedding to attend. As the body count rises and the team narrows the suspect pool to those connected to a local theater airing The Bridge on the River Kwai, they also discover the seedier side of London with one of the victims having been a photographer and a suspect being an amateur "filmmaker." It comes down to the wire in this one, with one of Jericho's team's life hanging in the balance and a killer unhinged. This episode was not only the most exciting, but also the funniest as a television show was making a show about Jericho, so there were lots of little moments where he didn't want to deal with the TV people or was considered "too wooden" to introduce himself in his own show. Also of note is that Dominic Cooper (Agent Carter) and Dudley Sutton (Lovejoy) both had guest roles in the show.

Personally, I really enjoyed Jericho of Scotland Yard, in all of its vintage-inspired glory, but the show does reveal a bit of its age as it first aired back in 2005. However, on the flip side, we get to see some actors as guest stars who are more well known now, which is always fun. Also, the current shows trend more towards 45-60 minute mark instead of these feature length movies, and I prefer the shorter episodes of the more modern shows as well. That said, if you enjoy hard-boiled detective stories with occasional comedy and flawed but endearing characters, you'll probably enjoy Jericho of Scotland Yard.



-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ashley Perkins
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