The Books of Zen!

No this is not a post about Buddhism! 

Rufus Sewell

I have a new telly favourite, Zen!

Episode 1 aired a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was quite good. After episode 2, I thought, well I really like this. Episode 3, the last one aired last night and now I'm hooked. I loved it!


I tried to figure out why I liked it so much and had to conclude that it was just different to a lot of the crime stuff that we're offered today. A breath of fresh air.

Rufus Sewell is great as Aurelio Zen, the divorced, Venetian, suave, sophisticated and honest, detective who lives with his mother. None of your shouting and swearing from Zen, if anything he underplays the role which works brilliantly.

The length of the episodes is just right at one and a half hours and allows the story to be told without that rushing to complete it in less than an hour like many crime programmes nowadays. This amount of time lets you get to know the characters which I think really does help. No ads too on the BBC so you really get your moneys worth! 


The approach to the casting and script is very quirky. All actors are English and speak with a range of English accents. Zen greets his mother with “Caio Mamma” then in his slightly Cockney accent (well sounds that way to a Northerner) asks “What time is supper”? The only actors without English accents are his girlfriend, played by the beautiful Caterina Murino who looks a little like Sophia Loren, and his mother. They do a lot of that continental double cheek kissing too.

The Italian scenery is gorgeous, it really was filmed in Rome. The parks, churches, cafes, restaurants and apartments really make a delightful change from what we usually see nowadays. Zen himself wanders about in wonderfully cut suits; he would have made an amazing James Bond!

I do like the dry sense of humour too and last night's episode really had me laughing out loud. I won’t say why, that would spoil it.

Just have to hope the series proves popular so we get to see more of Zen. Have to say it’s one of the best programmes I’ve seen in a long while, Well worth the cost, whatever it was.

I must try to get hold of some of Michael Dibdin's books to see how the adaptations compare. From what I've read Zen was a bit older in the books and not quite so cool and laid back. Well there are eleven books so plenty of material for more episodes.

If you missed Zen and can use the BBCs iPlayer I’d recommend you give it a try although you won’t get the benefit of that Roman scenery on a computer. If you can’t access iPlayer you can get a brief flavour on YouTube here, although not a lot of the lovely scenery. A bit of graffiti, a bit of a cafe and a lot of kissing!

Cadfael

Even though it first was broadcast in 1994, this series is still one of my favourites.  I’ve watched the programmes many times and still enjoy them.

I had read a couple of Ellis Peters’ (Edith Pargeter) medieval detective stories before I saw the masterful TV dramatisations and I wasn’t disappointed with the results.

The character of Cadfael was brilliantly portrayed by Derek Jacobi in this series. The Welsh herbalist monk living in an English abbey during the first half of the 12^th century was an unusual one. He came late to monastic life having spent half his life as a Crusader where he became a skillful observer of human nature and learned a range of skills while a prisoner of the Muslims. Cadfael has a worldly knowledge which sets him apart from his fellow monks, it makes him more understanding of people both rich and poor and their problems, this gets him into trouble with his superiors.

The background of the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud is there throughout the series and the crimes Cadfael “investigates” are often a result of this terrible time. Shrewsbury Abbey provides a place of refuge and calm to refugees, spies and conspirators alike.

The programmes never showed any violence as the crimes had already been committed when Cadfael became involved. However violence there was, in abundance.

All the stories showed both the frailty and the strength of human nature. The screenplay of Ellis Peters’ stories was wonderful even if the screenplays were not always faithful to the books. 


I particularly loved Cadfael’s musings and comments such as:

"Under the certainty of heaven all that we can be sure of is tomorrow.  When yesterday is already ours, what more can we ask?" 

Of all the programmes, the one I remember most vividly is The Virgin in the Ice. The scenery and weather were bleak and matched the tale of treachery and violence. It told of the murder of a nun who was found by Cadfael in ice.  This story told us more about Cadfael’s previous life in The Holy Land. It also introduced Olivier de Bretagne, a Syrian-born squire, the son of a woman Cadfael had known in the Holy Land. He was Cadfael’s son.  Interestingly this is Derek Jacobi’s favourite too, as he said “Cadfaels’ past merges with his present”.

Here’s a clip from that episode

Wonderful! One of life's true delights.

If you want to find out more about the books and the TV series, here are a few places to check out:


Steve Conrad's website

ITV Drama

Wiki

If you want to see where the books are set you can find the Cadfael Car Trails on Shropshire Tourism 

Interestingly the TV series was filmed in Hungary, not Shropshire!

Harry O

I do love TV detective shows and there have been lots that I have really enjoyed over the years. However, if I had to choose just one, then Harry O wins my vote every time. Yes, it's my all time favourite TV detective series and Harry O's my favourite TV detective character.

I'll be honest and admit it probably wasn't the best series, Inspector Morse probably gets that accolade but Harry O's my choice.

Do you remember him? He was an unusual TV detective, not your Magnum PI or the flash Crockett & Tubbs. No, he was more like the British TV detectives, flawed and vulnerable but with w wry, sardonic sense of humour. Here's what Ed Robertson, TV Historian and author had to say about him:.

"Harry Orwell ... wasn’t like most private eyes. He owned a car, but rode the bus because his car was often “sick.” He couldn’t run well because of a bullet lodged in his back from his days on the San Diego police force. He really didn’t have to work: while his disability pension didn’t make him rich, it afforded him a life of simple pleasures. Though he didn’t work for free, he didn’t always work for money: he once let a client pay off his fee by working on his boat, The Answer. He could also afford to work “on the house” occasionally, if he truly believed in a client, or if he somehow felt he had let the client down. Jim Rockford would never do that."

I feel it's a shame that Warner Brothers has never released this series on DVD despite the fact there has been lots of scam websites selling poor copies or just taking the money and sending nothing. I have to keep watching little bits on YouTube. So I set up a petition to Warner Brothers to ask them to release it.

Take a look and if you could, make my day and please sign it. Maybe then I'd get to see Harry O again properly instead of having to watch bits and bobs on YouTube. You could enjoy it too!

Post No 157

Anyone for a Tattoo?

More from my favourite female comedian Victoria Wood.

Mmmm! Wonder if it was a tattoo parlour like this my Dad visited to get his heart and anchor tattoo when he was in the Royal Navy!

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Victoria Wood - Supermarket Sketch

Victoria Wood is one of my favourites. She's an absolute genius at acting, comedy writing and stand up comedy, she can make me cry with laughter.

Here she is with Celia Imrie in a brilliant supermarket sketch.

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Grow Your Own Drugs!

I always forget I have this Blog for my telly postings and keep posting them on my main Blog but never mind.

Here's the link to a posting about a great programme I watched on making Christmas presents and remedies from plants you grow in your own garden. Not really drugs.

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Inspector Morse

This has got to be the greatest TV detective series ever made. However  I'll admit it's not my favourite. In fact I didn't like it when I first saw it way back in 1987. Over time I did grow to really like it and it really has stood the test of time. Although there were only 33 episodes, thankfully we can still enjoy them on ITV3 at the moment. There's also the option to watch some episodes on ITV Payer @ ITV.com.
"Twenty one years ago a young, fresh-faced detective climbed into an old red Jaguar Mk II car for the first time.

Beside him was a grumpy super-sleuth with an eye for the ladies and a thirst for beer. Inspector Morse had existed before then in the books of Colin Dexter but it was the ITV version that was to catapult the character into TV’s stratosphere."

Source of text and picture: ITV.com

This was the start of a trip that lasted for thirteen years. The first episode "The Dead of Jericho" in 1987 introduced us to Morse and Lewis and in the final one, "The Remorseful Day" in 2000, they killed Morse off.

According to ITV.com, Inspector Morse pulled in a telly audience of 18 million for the last three episodes. That's a third of the British population and more than a million more than would normally watch an England group match in The World Cup!

Although very intelligent, he was also an intellectual snob, a bit of a womaniser, pedantic, sullen, arrogant on occasions and annoyingly overbearing with poor Robbie Lewis his sergeant.
So why did we like him? Well he was a complex character and despite his flaws perhaps we liked his vulnerability. He was never successful with women, he always seemed to be in conflict with authority and in the later programmes his health was failing. He was clever too and even though it took some time he always deduced the guilty parties. However I think the main reason we liked him was his portrayal by John Thaw.

The cast was fantastic with John Thaw as Morse, the opera loving whisky drinking detective and Kevin Whately as the hard done by Geordie sergeant, Robbie Lewis. Every episode had a wonderful cast of guest actors, a veritable who's who of the British acting world, that over the years included John Gielgud, Janet Suzman, Samantha Bond, Anna Massey, Daniel Massey, Robert Hardy, Richard Briers, Amanda Burton, Richard WIlson, Jason Isaacs, Jim Broadbent, Zoe Wannamaker, Geoffrey Palmer, Simon Callow, Patrick Troughton, Lionel Jeffries and Rachel Weisz to name but a few. You also saw Colin Dexter in cameo roles in many episodes.

I loved the theme music, composed by Barrington Pheloung which very cleverly used a motif based on the Morse Code for MORSE. Just listen to the guitar and the wonderful strings in this very haunting melody.

Definitely one of the best theme tunes ever written and it complemented the classical music and operatic arias played in the programmes. Unlike Morse, I'm not a great fan of opera nor Wagner but I have to admit that the music gave a touch of class to the series. I especially loved the episode set in Australia which ended on the steps of the Sydney Opera House with Morse going into the Opera House and leaving Lewis to go on a boat trip around Sydney Harbour. Pure magic!

What about his car too that red Jaguar Mk11! Like lots of TV detectives such as Harry O, he chose an unusual and often unreliable car! In fact he had quite a lot in common with Harry Orwell. Neither were snappy dressers, often came across as sullen, had health problems, no lasting relationships with women, they both liked a drink and each were vulnerable characters. However Harry O had a charm to him that Morse lacked.

The scenery was fantastic too, mostly set in Oxford with the university colleges providing the backdrop for many of the stories. In the final programme, The Remorseful Day, Morse has his heart attack in Exeter Quad.

Eventually they killed him off. To be honest he was facing a very depressing retirement with only his Wagner and whiskey for company so it was probably for the best. That last programme, The Remorseful Day wasn't the best episode but lets face it it had to be gloomy. He dies in hospital without Lewis his faithful sergeant but his last words were for him, "Thank Lewis for me".

It was a really sad scene and later as Lewis goes into the mortuary to say goodbye, he kisses Morse. What is even sadder now watching it, is that John Thaw developed cancer and died only fifteen months after the series ended.

A while ago I watched an excellent programme on the making of Morse and listened to a lot of the people involved in the production as well as the actors recalling their memories. I especially enjoyed listening to Kevin Whately (Sergeant Robbie Lewis), talking about the scene in the mortuary and laughing as he recalled discussing kissing Morse with John Thaw.

John Thaw had warned him, "Not on the lips Kevin!"

Here's a sad clip from the final episode where Morse is contemplating his retirement:

Ensanguining the skies,
How heavily it dies
Into the west away;
Past touch and sight and sound

Not further to be found,

How hopeless under ground

Falls the remorseful day.

From Easter Hymn, A.E. Houseman

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