The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Set 5

I bought the first 3 seasons together in a box set and they were captioned, then the 4th season, it too was captioned. The 5th season was released by the same company and amazon didn't really say it was or wasn't. I like the series so I bought it. I was very disappointed that there was no caption on this set. A suggestion to Amazon, please list whether a DVD is captioned or not. It may not seem like a big deal but it is to me.

Haver's real struggles with singlehood & job were interesting, but now the show is all Lynley with long hair and a childish snobby inability to connect. He's a sad widdle boy. Crime plots are about the same: dysfunctional English families murdering each other using archaic methods (a good old head-bonk with a shovel) -- oh my! Still better than most stuff on TV, but in the end you don't really care which unintelligible villager did it.

"You want to know how someone died, find out how they lived, how they loved." -- Natural Causes


This delicately etched and excellently acted series on PBS's "Mystery" is my favorite. Nathaniel Parker's Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sharon Small's Barbara Havers are eagerly awaited with passion each season by this viewer like nothing else on television.

Now in its fifth season, the series based on Elizabeth George's characters has grown and matured into something really special. The mysteries are always well-written and the lead characters have been allowed to let life and what each brings to the table change both themselves and each other.

The dashing Lynley was originally paired with Havers because it was taken for granted he would not be distracted by her; a quite offensive presumption. But the two quickly found there was more to each other than their reputations, and proved a great team. They also became quite close, their deep friendship and affection for each other rarely dwelled upon but always there beneath the surface.

One of the great things about the series has been its lack of stagnation, It is only natural that Havers has given the dashing Lynley depth and complexity while he has given her a softer appearance over time. After four seasons Havers has her hair down and looks terrific. And it is perhaps due to his relationship with Barbara that the separated Lynley has come closer to once again being with his wife Helen, winningly portrayed by Catherine Russell.

Season five began with Lynley suspended pending an inquiry into brutality charges. Barbara has been paired with a new D.I., a very pregnant one a bit caustic regarding Lynley who, for his part, does not endear himself to her when he unofficially starts helping and thinks she is overlooking promising leads.

"Natural Causes" began the season in fine style, and even some fun, as towards the conclusion Havers is the D.I., Lynley doing her bidding. The final episode of season five finds a murder in Soho tied to Bosnia, even Lynley's Helen lending a helping hand. But this bookend to the season will turn tragic, Lynley discovering an entire world can change in "The Blink of an Eye."

Deeply intelligent and richly mature mysteries with carefully nuanced performances, the Inspector Lynley series began with a promise it has lived up to. Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small have been marvelous and memorable in a series fans cherish in the same manner as Lynley does his Bristol. Smart and atmospheric, Debbie Wiseman's opening music setting the tone for each intriguing installment, Inspector Lynley is a series mystery fans can't miss.

Love Lynley, love Havers, and both their specific troubled lives---they are a perfect "statement" of how the class system works for everyone---the aristocrat needs their loyal, practical, and grounded-in-reality sidekick. They are a visual statement, and a "power" statement as well. Havers has mundane worries and limitations, Lynley has the burden and misery of centuries to carry on his shoulders, has suffered a lot, and we don't begrudge him his rank and income and perfect town-house.
BIGGEST mistake is the mis-casting of Helen, who was a perfect foil to Lynley before---but the new actress in the "non-role" now looks awful in every respect---that is, trashy by anyone's definition. Having to suffer through her brief scenes and look at her dishelved appearance nearly ruins the episodes. Lynley is gorgeous, lonely, eligible and should be hounded by a bevy of classy titled Debutantes by now---looking at him with this actress beggars belief.

its just not fair to give us a show you can really sink your teeth into and then find out its cancelled and we are left hanging.....i know the books on which Lynley and Havers are based do not have a romantic notion to them but i for one would like to see at least one show end with them either going out in a blaze of glory or finally accepting they should be together....i hate the bbc for cancelling the show....please just one more movie to wrap up the ending......