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The suburbs - manicured lawns, palatial houses, car pools,
wife swapping and murder. Even the most picturesque suburb
can hold dark secrets in its lush gardens. Detective Inspector
Kate "Ash" Ashurst and Detective Sergeant Emma "Scribbs" Scribbins
are partners who investigate crimes in Middleford Criminal
Investigative Department. In Series One the detectives
investigate six cases ranging from a singles club murder to
an out-of-control stag party and a home improvements lover
whose hammer becomes a murder weapon...
Murder
in Suburbia: Series One was originally broadcast on ITV
in 2004 and follows mismatched cops Inspector Kate Ashurst;
a graduate from a 'posh girls' academy and her working-class
partner, Detective Sergeant Emma Scribbins, who solve crimes
in an apparently-quaint suburb called Middleford.
Episode
One: Ash and Scribbs investigate the strange death of
party girl Nikki Pengelly. Her distraught fiancé Ralph
suspects Nikki's ex-husband Gavin. Ash and Scribbs's investigation
soon leads them to a dating agency.
Episode Two: Womaniser Charlie Egan is found drowned
in Middleford's private golf club on his stag night. Ash and
Scribbs have their work cut out for them as they investigate
everyone at the party, including the stripper; the golf club's
manageress; the local Mayor, who is also the father of Charlie's
intended bride; and Charlie's business partner.
Episode
Three: When the burnt out remains of a car is found to
contain a charred body, Ash and Scribbs discover that the
lives of the rich in Middleford is, despite first impressions,
anything but dull.
Episode
Four: When a charity shop worker is stabbed to death Ash
and Scribbs investigate her private life. It's not long before
they discover that the victim was part of a group of friends
that regularly held wife swapping parties.
Episode
Five: When the secretary at Middleford Comprehensive is
the victim of a rather nasty hit and run. Ash and Scribbs
go back to school to find out if her death was an accident.
When the headmaster's car is spotted in a local garage the
case seems to be over, but then there are quite a few more
suspects with secrets of their own.
Episode
Six: Bernard Lloyd is the neighbour from Hell. Night and
day he makes a racket in his house thanks to his fondness
for DIY. When he is found bludgeoned to death in his garden
shed Ash and Scribbs's investigation is a mere formality.
Bernard's wife was found with the hammer in her hand and with
no memory of how she came by it. The two, not convinced that
the wife is to blame, start to question the neighbours - none
of whom liked the victim.
The
on-screen chemistry between Caroline Catz and Lisa Faulkner
is great, the little look you get into their social lives
is interesting - and amusing at times.
The
show's producers seem to have something about getting poor
Catz and Faulkner to dress up in sexy outfits for
their undercover work. They dress up as a couple of school
girls to attend the school reunion disco in Episode One,
and as a waitress and cook in Episode Six. One for
the dads, I suppose.
There
are numerous notable guest stars in this series including
Edward Woodward and Philip Jackson, but there are way to many
faces you'll recognise to mention individually.
Whoever
put this DVD collection together did a bit of a hatchet job
to honest. For the purists out there... you won't be happy
to learn that the episodes are not presented here in their
original broadcast order (for those that care that would be
1, 4, 2, 3, 5 and 6). Also, for
some unfathomable reason, all of the DVD menus used pictures
from Series Two. Oops! Another annoying aspect is that
if you chose to play the episodes separately it's hard to
find the option for "play episode". If you play
chapter 1 it starts a few minutes into the episode.
Extras
are a bit poor too. All we get are filmographies for the main
cast and 17 pictures (from Series Two) in the Picture
Gallery.
Ignoring
all of those moans this DVD represents a pretty entertaining
collection, and one that fans of crime shows should get hold
of.
Nick
Smithson
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