Dalziel & Pascoe: Season 4

The screenplay faithfully reflects author Reginald Hill’s characters, and the acting is superb, in all four episodes recorded on these DVDs. The dialogue is realistic, although it would help most American viewers to turn on subtitles, and to learn a little about the slang terminology used in the vicinity of Yorkshire. Still, I had little trouble understanding what was taking place. There are four episodes in Season 4.The first episode is titled “On Beulah Height.” This episode is every bit as good as the book by Reginald Hill, which I reviewed and awarded five stars. The overarching theme of the story is a children’s book called “Nina and the Nix,” which is Rosie Pascoe’s favorite bedtime story. The Nix is a scaly monster who kidnaps little girls, drags them into his underground lair, and eats them.Fifteen years ago, when Dalziel was a still Detective Inspector, he was in charge of a police investigation into the apparent attack on a little girl on Beulah height, a hill overlooking an abandoned and now-flooded village in Yorkshire. At that same time, another little girl went missing and was never found. The suspect also disappeared, and everybody believed that he had fled to America. When, fifteen years later, the alleged suspect is seen in the village, and when another little girl disappears, everybody believes that the murderer has returned to the area, and to his crimes.In a parallel story line, the Pascoes’ daughter Rosie contracts meningitis and falls into a coma. She dreams that she has been captured by the Nix, and she is waiting for her father to come and rescue her. While Rosie lies in the hospital, the body of the recently-missing little girl is found in a small cave on Beulah Height, and the comparison to the lair of the Nix becomes clear.All loose ends come together at the end of the story, which has a few surprises for viewers. Even though I had previously read the book, I was still a little surprised at the ending. While generally faithful to the novel, a few things have been left out of the TV episode, but that did not adversely affect the quality of the production. This show is clearly deserving of the five stars I award it.The second episode is titled “Recalled to Life.” It is based on the novel by the same name written by Reginald Hill. Beautifully performed by the cast, the story begins in 1963, when Dalziel was just a young rookie detective. A woman is charged with the shotgun murder of her lover’s wife and spends 35 years in prison for it. She is released when her lawyer manages to convince a judge that her conviction was not “safe,” the British term for unjustified. The husband and his two best friends are all members of the British Security Services, what Dalziel calls the “Emmies” — MI-5 and MI-6. He refers to all members of the Security Services as “funny buggers.” One of the three is a mole, but which one? It is revealed at the end, but not before more victims are murdered.The plot is convoluted, but paying careful attention will allow most viewers to follow it. As always, I suggest the use of subtitles when viewing this series. Pascoe is almost murdered in this episode, and he suffers a serious cut above his left eye. Dalziel travels to London to find the now-released murderer, who has absconded with a gun. There, an attempt is made to murder Dalziel, also. It is only good fortune that saves both detectives.I liked this episode, and would rate it four stars, the same rating I awarded the novel when I first read it.The third episode, “Time to Go,” is a story about a pair of fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, who appear to be in their mid-twenties. I have read no novel with this title that was written by Reginald Hill, and I could find no mention of it on the Internet. The screen credits indicate that the story was written by David Ashton, and that it was based on characters created by Reginald Hill, but not on any particular one of his novels.The twin boy was born three minutes before the girl, so they consider him to be her older brother. Their names are Nicholas and Sophie Richmond. Their parents were killed in a tragic auto accident twenty years earlier in which the two twins were the only survivors. The parents had been drunk, after attending the father’s brother Henry Richmond’s birthday party at his home. “Uncle” Henry becomes the guardian of the children, raising the inseparable pair into adulthood. Nicholas and Sophie come up with an idea for a dance club, and Uncle Henry, who owns a perfume manufacturing company, finances it. The club is called “Tribal Pulse,” and it is tremendously successful.A criminal low-life named Tony, along with his cohort “Snake,” who also manages the dance club, conspire to take over control of Tribal Pulse from the twins. Illegal drugs are being sold in the club, and one of the dealers is Sophie’s current boyfriend, “Zach.” Zach collapses from what is originally thought to be a drug overdose, but police later determine that he has been poisoned with cyanide. Later, Snake is found smothered to death in the club, but there is a witness who tells the police that the murderer was Sophie. Was it? Could she do such a thing?Police search Uncle Henry’s perfume manufacturing plant and discover a side operation that manufactures Ecstacy, known as “E” by the young people. Not long after, Zach’s father is caught in a meeting with a criminal, and it is discovered that he was allowing his son to remove drugs from the pharmacy he owns so that they could be sold in the dance club.The plot is complex, but not too difficult for the average American to follow. I thought the story was quite good and, as always, the acting was outstanding. I highly recommend this episode. I award it five stars. Very entertaining.The fourth episode of Season 4 is titled “The British Grenadier.” That is the name of a village pub, whose owner is suffering from PTSD as a result of his experiences in the Falklands War. His name is Frank Moon, and his part is played by veteran British actor Dennis Waterman. Waterman later starred in the excellent BBC series “New Tricks” which, unfortunately, was taken off the air, much to my great dismay. Once again, this episode was not taken from any particular one of noted author Reginald Hill’s novels but was written by Michael Chaplin.The opening scene of the episode shows us a group of men and women, including Frank Moon and his wife having a violent argument in the pub while a young boy watches in consternation. The next scene shows us Moon waking up from a PTSD nightmare while sleeping in the back of his car in the woods. He is having flashbacks from the war. For whatever reason, Moon has concluded that his wife has been cheating on him with other men. He is violently accusatory towards her, and in her fear and confusion, she reaches out to Superintendent Andy Dalziel for help. He goes to the pub, but Moon returns, grabs a handgun, and begins waving it around threatening everybody. The local elderly Police Constable comes and tries to take the gun away from Moon outside the pub, but it goes off and the policeman is shot. Moon immediately orders everybody back into the pub, and a hostage situation quickly ensues. Dalziel is trapped inside.The Chief Constable, a very religious, but largely incompetent, police officer takes over the case because Dalziel can’t be located. Nobody knows that he is one of the hostages. The head of the British equivalent of the SWAT team is an inspector with a reputation for being trigger-happy. He was suspended, but has returned to duty. Detective Constable Novello looks through a “scope” that the SWAT team pushes through a hole they have drilled in the wall of the pub, and she sees Dalziel. She tries repeatedly to tell the Chief Constable, but he brushes her off. Before long, Pascoe is also taken hostage and Frank Moon is wounded by a sniper. Nothing good happens after that.Needless to say, there are more deaths, and more injuries before the standoff comes to an end. Much of the story is a classic hostage taking story, so a lot of it might be predictable to some viewers. I did not particularly like this episode. It is not as good as the other three episodes of the season, so I award it only three stars. Still, it is an entertaining presentation, well worth the time spent to watch it.All together, these four shows warrant a five star rating, in spite of the weakness of episode 4. If you like Dalziel and Pascoe, you should acquire these DVDs and watch them. It would definitely be worthwhile. Highly entertaining police drama at its best.

Filmed in the late 1990s and sans "high tech" gadgetry, Season four (4) of Dalziel and Pascoe is really a very good British detective/mystery program that I enjoyed. Dalziel and Pascoe remain as "different as night and day" but they are a darn good detective team solving some very dastardly "murder mysteries" very well with Dalziel unorthodox and seemly crude manner (he is really rather nice, perhaps a" little rough around the edges") and Pascoe's very suave, gentle and well-dressed methods of solving murder mysteries. In this season, they certainly have become a very good team solving horrendous cases very well while, we, the viewing audience, get to "see" some of their personal lives.The mysteries this season are very well written, directed and acted. I was kept very alert trying to determine "who done it". Be advised to keep your "thinking caps" tightly in place because the mysteries in Season Four (4) of this series requires them. Yes there is the preverbal "cliff hanger"--will one of the "leads" survive to solve more crimes?

Season 4 is just as good as the other seasons. The crime-busting duo investigates the death of a young man at a rave club in one episode, and the wrongful conviction of a woman accused of murder back in 1963. Then in the last episode, Dalziel is part of a group held hostage in a pub with Pascoe unaware that his boss is in danger. This season also introduces a new member to the team -- Detective Constable Shirley Novello. Subtitles provided.

These are region 1, USA & Canada, compatible DVDs, with English subtitles.Not to be confused with the earlier Dutch region 2 versions.They are produced by the BBC.I own all the original Dutch version series and the new USA DVD version series.The audio and video quality is much better, and so are the menus, on these new versions.Dalziel & Pascoe is a great series, although series 9 and 10 don't have the same pizzazz.I did think the price was a little high for an old series.

Four stars for the series--one star to BBC for not offering more seasons in this long-running British show. Warren Clark is simply terrific as crotch-scratching, nose-picking, belching Dalziel; Buchanan is rather stiff as his sidekick; and it's been interesting to see how Pascoe's shrewish wife has been gradually written out of the series. But there have been EIGHT additional series (winding up in '07) and--are you listening BBC?--we wanna see 'em all!

These two make for great watching in this very well produced detective series. They have been around a while but sometimes we get more out of a second viewing. It's nice to be able to go and watch them over in one's own time. Always great plots.

DVD #2 froze before the ending.

As I have said before again and again this is of of the best series out today. The story lines are great and the actors are better every series. I only wish they came out faster.Just waiting for 7. Can't wait.

We can never guess what Dalziel is going to say next! He goes from snide and sarcastic and yelling to gentle and sweet (sometimes) These are very, very good murder mysteries with unexpected twists! We highly recommend them all!

I loved Dalziel & Pascoe. Each season was super acting and story lines, I wouldn't miss any of the series absolutely fabulous.

Great TV series.

The only reason I put it at 4 stars is because of "On Beulah Height". My own fault, really. I'd read the book -- twice -- before watching the episode. Sigh. Always a mistake, that. The book is, of course, much more complex and interesting. So that particular installment in the series disappointed me, although I understood that time constraints -- not to mention uncooperative weather (in the book, Dendale was in the grip of a serious and prolonged drought, which is why the drowned village was reappearing) -- made it necessary to simplify things. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this season.