Viewer's Advisory Mahopac Public Library

More Awfully Good British Viewing

Clatterford
Welcome to Clatterford, a small town big enough to have a good cross section of people, local shops and a late night convenience store. It's also small enough where everyone knows everybody's business but doesn't talk about it unless asked. Cue the Women's Guild, who aren't afraid to ask.

Doc Martin
Make an appointment with the brilliant but socially awkward and neurotic Doc Martin (Martin Clunes). When Martin develops an aversion to blood, he abandons his career as a celebrated London surgeon and becomes the only doctor in a sleepy small town where his tactless manner soon has the whole town in an uproar. You'll laugh out loud as you watch Martin get to know the town's hysterical mix of quirky residents and find new ways to put his foot into his mouth!

Judge John Deed
Judge John Deed is a cracking-good British dramatic series set against the backdrop of the complex English judicial system. Fans of British TV dramas and any American crime procedurals will enjoy watching star Martin Shaw as the title character preside over all manner of twisted, intense, and fascinating criminal cases. Judge John Deed shows a man of honor and weary humor--and a judge who tries to honor his original decision to get into "the law" to help protect the rights of the innocent. Sometimes, Judge Deed realizes, that may mean bending the letter, if not the spirit, of the law.

Downton Abbey
An addictive blend of suds and social commentary, ITV's Downton Abbey brings a microcosm of Edwardian society together under one roof. Lord Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) and his family live a life of leisure, while a fleet of servants, including butler Carson (Jim Carter), attend to their every need, but two events conspire to shake things up: the sinking of the Titanic, which claims Crawley's heirs, and the return of his valet, Bates (Brendan Coyle). In the tradition of the BBC's Upstairs Downstairs and Robert Altman's Gosford Park, for which writer-creator Julian Fellowes received an Academy Award, the royals, servants, and middle-class relations struggle to get along.

Murphy's Law
A maverick Irish cop takes on the London crime world Detective Tommy Murphy has nothing left to lose. Guilt-ridden over the death of his young daughter, who was slain by the IRA, he flees to London to work undercover for the Metropolitan Police. Hardheaded, hard-drinking, brash, and brooding, Murphy is down on his luck. But he still has more than a bit of the old Irish charm, flashing quick wit and a roguish grin.

We’ll Meet Again
Four years into World War II, the quiet English village of Market Wetherby is in for a shock--not a German invasion, but the arrival of American servicemen at the new U.S. air base. The newcomers, however, are an altogether different breed. In the opinion of many locals, they’re "overpaid, oversexed, and over here." We’ll Meet Again captures the drama of wartime with a mix of nostalgia, romance, and intrigue, played out by a superb international cast.

Pie in the Sky
Perfecting a recipe is like solving a crime, suggests Pie in the Sky, the clever British mystery series featuring sleuth-turned-chef Henry Crabbe. After being shot by a notorious embezzler, Crabbe tried to retire from the police force so he could open a restaurant--but his weaselly superior officer, ACC Fisher blackmails him into remaining a detective. Thus begins Crabbe’s dual career, which of course proves handy as mysteries feature everything from omelets to edible snails. He’s assisted at the restaurant by his wife, Margaret, despite her maddening indifference to food; he’s assisted in his investigations by DS Cambridge, who works for Fisher but whose sympathies lie with Crabbe.

Wycliffe
When murder strikes in Cornwall, Detective Superintendent Wycliffe is there to solve it. Always calm, but serious, the quick-thinking detective works tirelessly, his mind piecing together each crime with breakneck speed and dead-on accuracy. He can spot a liar at a glance and no suspect is spared his ruthless interrogation. Each time Wycliffe and his team of investigators arrive on the scene, the drama unfolds and suspense heightens as they close in on the guilty and swiftly become a killer's worst nightmare.

Wish Me Luck
Civilians turn heroines in this compelling British WWII series. At the height of World War II, France is occupied and all of England is in peril. Col. James "Cad" Cadogan will use any means necessary to get the intelligence he needs--even sending civilians to work undercover behind enemy lines. Based on the real-life stories of women recruited by Britain’s Special Operations Executive, this suspenseful drama series follows wife and mother Liz Grainger and half-Jewish factory girl Matty Firman from training in England through the terror of their daily lives in Nazi-occupied France.

New Tricks
The premise of New Tricks is irresistible: A career-driven British detective hits a career speedbump and is put in charge of a new cold-case division that she thinks is way out of the spotlight. And if that isn't bad enough, she must build a staff from a raggedy crew of retired cops with loads of time on their hands--as well as, it turns out, some pretty great detective skills they're dying to use again. Supervising the oddball group is the former hotshot Det. Supt. Sandra Pullman who feels sidelined, and thus frustrated, in this latest assignment. Yet the viewer knows Pullman is perfectionist enough to give this Siberia gig her all, even if her work methods differ wildly from those on her team.