The Good

A well written show that isn't glossy for flashy unless it needs to be.

The Bad

No Extras came with this release.

Caroline Quentin is Janine Lewis in the well conceived British TV show, Blue Murder: Set 1. As a single mom who also commands a tight knit group of detectives, Lewis is the shrewdest of them all. Juggling her duties as a mother with her constant load of cases, Lewis never seems like she has a moment to rest. There is always another case, always another family crisis and she is the type who isn't going to let any stones go unturned. Usually helping Lewis in her pursuit of the truth is partner Richard Mayne (Ian Kelsey) and her Superior DCS Hackett (David Schofield).

With only 6 episodes spread out over three discs we get to see Janine Lewis more than put through her paces. "Up In Smoke" deals with Lewis and Richard trying to find out who someone was after they have been cremated. The two parter "Cry Me A River" sees Lewis ready to have another child when she is also promoted and given a top case. A man is found in his garden with portions of his insides removed. Lewis is on the case but the most likely suspect doesn't seem like the right one. Lastly, the timely episode "Fragile Relations" sees current world issues come into play when a young muslim dies in an arson fire. Signs point to it being a right wing British group or perhaps even some people in the Islamic community.

Features

No Extras came with this release.

Video

16:9 - Widescreen. This show is darker in tone than a lot of the British shows I have seen. It could be the colors that the main characters are wearing, but there are a lot of interior shots and that might play into this also. Acorn Media seems to have done a solid job compressing the six episodes in this set. I didn't notice any real dirt on the images or any times where things got pixilated or choppy. I found that there was some difference between the exterior and interior scenes, in that whenever we were outside things looked somewhat overcast. Perhaps this is a compression issue? Still, nothing about the look of this show was negative to me.

Audio

Stereo. For some reason I felt that things were a little on the low side here. The fact that this show was in stereo might have had something to do with that. I watched this release on my one speaker TV. I turned things up about 3/4s of the way and this release played fine. I guess I might have just been surprised that I had to do that. See how it plays on your system but everything is audible.

Package

The front of this light and dark blue slipcase features Caroline Quentin's face mixed in with the badge of the police unit she works for. The back of this cover gives us two images from this show, a well written description of what Blue Murder is about, and some technical specs. The slim cases that store all the discs have the exact same cover. Why they had to use this many discs is anyone's guess as it seems like it would have only taken two at the most. The two episodes that come on each disc are listed out on the back of each slim cover, and they also have technical specs there as well.

Final Word

I may have mentioned this before but I think the big reason why I like the British detective shows, is because they are very much like the American ones from the 1970s and 1980s. Someone like Janine Lewis isn't perfect. Her life seems to constantly be up in the air, she can't devote as much time to her family as she wants to, and she'll never be done with her work because crime never stops. If this was a show in the US, that would still be there but Janine would most likely be played by someone who is probably a but easier on the eyes. Since more people look like Caroline Quentin, as opposed to your garden variety beauty, this really works well in Blue Murder's favor.

Filled with realism and well crafted procedural motifs, Blue Murder: Set 1 is certainly something to watch if you are a fan of the detective genre.

Blue Murder was released .