“Stick with it — it gets motoring in later episodes. And while no one asked for the modern-day return of detective Beau Brummell, it’s worth a look”
Lynley, BBC1
“My main worry is that with so many reboots peppering today’s TV schedules — Bergerac, Dalgliesh, Van der Valk et al — this by-the-numbers opener could feel a little sedate for some audiences who may wonder what is the point of it. But stick with it — it gets motoring in later episodes. And while no one asked for the modern-day return of detective Beau Brummell, it’s worth a look. If only as another pleasantly inoffensive pebble on the shoreline of the contemporary TV seascape.”
Ben Dowell, The Times
“Square-jawed and athletic, the Muscular Christian type, Leo Suter is inspired casting. He betrayed Lynley as a bit of a brainbox during a stand-off with his boss, DCI Brian Nies (Daniel Mays), when he announced, ‘Pax vobiscum’ — and then translated, ‘I’m agreeing to a truce.’ That went down about as well as you’d expect. His passion for Roman history helped solve the murder of a pervy historian found both poisoned and bashed over the head, and whose sitting room was crowded with scantily clad statues.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail
“Lynley is a bland but serviceable detective drama if you come to it with no expectations. Fancy watching a self-contained, 90-minute murder mystery being solved by an aristocratic inspector and his working class sergeant? Then this will do fine. But if you know that it is a reboot of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, a superior offering that ran for seven years in the 2000s, then it’s something of a travesty.”
Anita Singh, Telegraph
“This new endeavour – not to be confused with Endeavour, the Morse spinoff on ITV that was not Lewis, though the original Parker/Small show was designed to compete with both, so I hope that’s clear – is entitled simply Lynley. Which is as contemporary as all-get-out already, before the credits have even rolled.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian
Corriedale, ITV1
“For the very first time, Corrie and Emmerdale have become Corriedale in an unrelenting, explosive and shocking cross-over episode. It might sound like a shameless ploy to get Corrie fans to watch Emmerdale and vice versa, but the resulting episode was a triumph – albeit a very sad one – with both soaps concluding massive storylines, and kickstarting several more.”
Emily Baker, The i
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