March 2011 saw Neil Dudgeon take over from John Nettles as Inspector Barnaby. Nettles (ever the gentleman and pro) had given 2 years warning to allow the producers to select a new star if they chose to continue the series, but producer Brian True May knew that Dudgeon would need all the help he could get to blunt the poison pen nibs of Nettles' many fans. And Dudgeon got it: Death in the Slow Lane is a belter of an episode - funny, genial and often very exciting, with the usual bits of MSM silliness mixed in to leaven the dish. Guests Samantha Bond and David Warner provide some star power, and there are super turns from Luke Allen Gale as local rapper/DJ Dave Doggy Day and from child stars Gwyneth Keyworth and Daisy Keeping as the "scholarship girls". Dudgeon takes up the mantle of Barnaby pretty well - perhaps playing it (or being scripted as) slightly more intellectual than Tom, and the writers give him a little tension with DS Jones and George Bullard. But there really isn't much daylight between the character of John and that of Tom. MSM carries on in its 200+ countries and territories (!) and, while not everyone will be happy (change is always difficult!), Death in the Slow Lane was a cracking start to the new era.
Review of Death in the Slow Lane
