Blue Murder Series 5   Starring: Caroline Quentin, Ian Kelsey, Paul Loughran, Nicholas Murchie and Belinda Everett ITV DVD RRP: £19.99 37115309334 Certificate: 15 Available 19 October 2009

Caroline Quentin stars as DCI Janine Lewis in six new episodes of the police drama which sees her juggling the demands of her hectic home-life with running an under-pressure murder investigation team. With a sharp sense of humour shared by the team, their sanity is preserved, but with solving murders at work and screaming blue murder at home, it’s a tough life and it’s about to get tougher - can Janine hold it all together...?

Series five of Blue Murder was originally screened on ITV between 7 September and 12 October 2009. For some reason the DVD runs the order of episodes slightly differently to the original broadcast order (If you want to watch them in broadcast order start with Having it All and then watch Inside - all the other episodes are in the correct order). Not that it really matters as there's not much of an ongoing storyline for Janine's home life.

Storylines this series include the team looking into the murders of a convicted child killer, a cheerleading coach, a vet, the front man of an indie pop band and a private investigator.

This series also seems to be a magnet for ex-soap stars - most notably Coronation Street. This is probably not much of a surprise as the series is set in Manchester where Coronation Street is filmed.

Of the supporting actors Paul Loughran, as DS Butchers, is the one that stands out as being the most impressive. This is probably because he provides the majority of the much needed light relief. Fans of Emmerdale may remember him for playing Butch Dingle, although to be honest he's almost unrecognisable now that he's not playing a sweet simpleton.

There's nothing new here that you won't have seen already in the numerous crime dramas produced in the UK. Like Frost, Morse, and Lynley, Blue Murder follows a pretty formulaic plot. A murder is committed, the crime team are called in, and the suspects line up. They always get their criminal, who kindly finally confesses all in the closing act. Also it soon becomes simple to work out who the killer is. Rule of thumb: the murderer is usually someone who is a friend or relative of one of the main suspects.

Personally, my favourite story was the Private Sins two-parter. This is mainly due to the fact that for most of the story Shap is trying to hide things from the investigation as he digs into the murder inquiry himself. The suspense of what Shap is hiding builds well throughout the episodes.

There are no extras on this collection.

While a competent and entertaining drama, Blue Murder brings absolutely nothing new to the table.

7

Darren Rea