Van der Valk is back! Dammit, and the more mature Foster is somehow even more alluring than the earlier incarnation. I miss the nostalgic feel of Amsterdam in the 1970s though. That was genuinely a bit of magic in series 1 to 3.
Down to Dr Hoffman's Children then. In spite of the opening scene showing a man plummeting off the roof of a building, the story seemed to take a while to get going. But get going it did, entirely justifying the longer programme. I failed to recognise Judy Cornwell as Harriet. She's a super actress, very versatile.
The two hour programme gave us chance to delve into a more complex case. We see more of the Van der Valks' home life too. The sweet Piet/Arlette closeness has not waned, although Meg Davies gives the impression of a stronger woman than did Susan Travers or Joanna Dunham. Ruth, the daughter Piet and Arlette adopted in the Van der Valk books (Tsing Boum by Nicolas Freeling) features, along with her little girl Esther (whose name fans of the books will link back to Ruth's murdered mother Esther). Seeing Piet and Arlette as grandparents gives another dimension to their characters, although more so to his character of course. One of their sons, last seen aged about 10 in the episode A Rose From Mr Reinhart, also appears. In the intervening 25-30 years he has grown up, left home, moved back home, joined the police and mysteriously changed his name to Wim. Can't remember what he was called before, but it was something fairly English sounding, perhaps Paul? I was a bit distracted thinking about that.
Good performances from some of the guest actors including Tom Bell as the menacing Freddie.
There was a clever plot with a bit of a twist that I probably should have seen coming but didn't. And a nice touch featuring a book I know well from years ago.