"As usual, Davies gets the case at the bottom of the investigative pile. But it leads him to something much bigger: the unsolved murder of a 17-year-old girl. Davies works on the case unofficially with the help of his friend Mod, who is frequently available as he goes from odd job to odder job." (DVD summary)
Peter Davison (All Creatures Great and Small; Doctor Who; At Home With the Braithwaites) stars as downtrodden nice guy detective "Dangerous" Davies in probably the gentlest crime drama television has ever seen. Like its protagonist, "The Last Detective" is a rather ordinary, decent thing that might even teeter on the edge of bland. With liberal doses of light humour and as well as a touching storyline, "The Last Detective" is not for the hard-core CSI fan, slowly unraveling its unfortunate tale of murder over 90+ minutes, but leaving you feeling slightly better about the world at its conclusion.
The tightly plotted (but parochially paced) murder is just a backdrop to introduce us to the hapless but resolutely cheerful Davies, brought to subtle, quiet life by Peter Davison. As usual for many of Davison's characters, his charming portrayal is nearly overshadowed by the interesting personalities around him, including Davies' best bud, Mod (Sean Hughes in a happily eccentric performance), and boss DI Aspinall (a cantankerous Rob Spendlove).
Helped by a light, quirky musical score and good direction, this is a surprisingly good, entertaining pilot that is very consistent with the episodes to follow, as long as one is patient and not looking for a lot of dazzle. It contains a number of amusing little scenes--as when Davies and Mod are drunk and encounter a horse in the middle of a street--that add to the depth and charm of the series, plus a dramatic and satisfying denouement.
Peter Davison (All Creatures Great and Small; Doctor Who; At Home With the Braithwaites) stars as downtrodden nice guy detective "Dangerous" Davies in probably the gentlest crime drama television has ever seen. Like its protagonist, "The Last Detective" is a rather ordinary, decent thing that might even teeter on the edge of bland. With liberal doses of light humour and as well as a touching storyline, "The Last Detective" is not for the hard-core CSI fan, slowly unraveling its unfortunate tale of murder over 90+ minutes, but leaving you feeling slightly better about the world at its conclusion.
The tightly plotted (but parochially paced) murder is just a backdrop to introduce us to the hapless but resolutely cheerful Davies, brought to subtle, quiet life by Peter Davison. As usual for many of Davison's characters, his charming portrayal is nearly overshadowed by the interesting personalities around him, including Davies' best bud, Mod (Sean Hughes in a happily eccentric performance), and boss DI Aspinall (a cantankerous Rob Spendlove).
Helped by a light, quirky musical score and good direction, this is a surprisingly good, entertaining pilot that is very consistent with the episodes to follow, as long as one is patient and not looking for a lot of dazzle. It contains a number of amusing little scenes--as when Davies and Mod are drunk and encounter a horse in the middle of a street--that add to the depth and charm of the series, plus a dramatic and satisfying denouement.