Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

bigverybadtom Not being a fan of "Keeping Up Appearances", I purposely picked the video series out of the library because I thought the stars of that series might be better off in this one, which was produced after the other show. Unfortunately, while it wasn't silly like the other show, it wasn't very good either.The premise does evoke the stars' former show. They are an older married couple, with one problem: the wife is not legally eligible for a government pension because she had not been employed long enough, so she takes a job at a post office to fill in her missing working time. In doing so, she spots a teenage boy swiping a charity box and a suspicious couple cashing two welfare checks. She gets the box back and finds out how the couple were cashing a fraudulently-obtained check. She gets the idea into her head of being a private detective, over her husband's objections.The show doesn't try for comedy, but it is slow-moving and dull, and the wife bullies her husband as she did in their former show. I was hoping for better. I didn't get it here.

Diane Ruth Patricia Routledge gives a superb performance as the title character in a crime drama only the British can produce so exquisitely. From visionary producer/creators John Bowen and David Cook, this intriguing, penetrating mystery series is set in the deceptively tranquil, idyllic Lancashire countryside, in a small village where supposedly little happens. A harmless appearing resident homemaker named Hetty Wainthropp discovers a very dark side indeed to her surroundings and sets out to blow this peaceful hamlet wide open. Aided by a young man who she has saved from a life of brutal criminality, she becomes one of the leading private investigators in the UK and the most sought after professional in her field. At first it's a bit of a lark in order to compensate for her husband's lethargy, indolence, and unemployment but soon it's a vocation as well as an all consuming obsession, leading her down dark labyrinths of deadly danger. At times powerful and hard hitting and at others deeply moving, Hetty Waintrhropp Investigates never pulls its punches and is always extraordinarily challenging television.

qasdfghj What really makes this series is Hetty's demeanor. It's hard to explain but she is comforting and fierce at the same time. I love the humdrum British world it takes us to, a different culture and setting than the one I live in, but I appreciate that it gives me a taste of simpler times. My favorite episodes: Helping Hansi (a German gardener is being harassed by residents of a building complex and pinned as a Nazi. His acting of his isolation was really good.) Woman of the Year (Hetty solves a crime at a home for battered women. It's well done) , Runaways (Again a hard topic is addressed: Hetty finds out where a two mentally disabled young adults who are in love ran off to), Fisticuffs .

Tim Keenan This show is a great hours worth of British television. The main character, Hetty,who is played by Pat Routledge is best known for her ever social climbing status character Hyacinth BUCKET, pronounced Bouquet. The rest of the ensemble make you feel like they could be your next door neighbors. Geoffery, Janet and Hetty's husband Robert have that "real" feel about them. The show revolves around an older lady who does detective work, with the help, at times, from the local police inspector, D.C.I. Adams. The show has a nice flow to it, and the story lines are played out at a nice pace. A show worth watching whenever you can find it on PBS. Let's hope soon that we can find it on Video or DVD in the near future.