Jimmy Griffin is a troubled man, an ex policeman, an ex husband who finds himself working as an insurance investigator. Haunted by his infidelity to his wife, he struggles to keep his head financially above water, whilst simultaneously trying to gain the forgiveness of his wife, which isn’t helped with him working with his ex mistress...

The Broker’s Man ran for two series. Series One ran from June to July 1997 with Series Two running from July to August 1998. Each episode ran for fifty minutes and starred Kevin Whatley as Griffin as he takes on what ever work he can get, mostly to pay his child support.

The show is the usual Sunday afternoon fare - a soap opera masquerading as a detective show - but one that will be enjoyed by fans of Whatley, who rose to prominence playing Lewis in Inspector Morse. Indeed the portrayal is so similar that the show could have been titled, Lewis: The Wilderness years. There’s nothing actually wrong with the show. Each story follows a tried and tested path: something occurs, Griffin is called in and, of course, solves the case, whilst at the same time trying to win his wife back. It’s easy on the eyes and mind, not practically challenging and very formulaic.

Disc one has some special features in the form a biography and filmography of Kevin Whatley and cast filmographies. The menu on this disc is a bit strange, in that you get the option of playing either episode one or just ‘play episode’, as it turns out there is only one double episode on the disc making one of the menu options redundant. Also, for some strange reason, it does not give the episode titles. Disc two holds the two remaining two-parters which made up Series One. There are no extras on disc two. Disc three holds the first three episodes of Series Two with the remaining three appearing on the last disc. Although you get more stories in Series Two this is only because there are no two-parters.

The picture is a pretty good 4:3 affair. I guess the best thing to say about the show is that it is undemanding, you may not have turned it over when it was on the television, but I am doubtful that there is a large audience, except for Whatley fans, out there for the DVD.

5

Charles Packer