After John Nettles left, "Midsomer Murders" just hasn't been the same. I've nothing against Neil Dudgeon, but it took a while for me to settle with John Barnaby. The 14th season, the first season with the New Barnaby, is not that great in my opinion. "Death in the Slow Lane" starts the season on a mediocre note. It's not a bad episode, but unimpressive to say the least.
Let' s start with the good aspects.
. The production values of the episode are great. The direction's solid and the music always fits the scenery. Neil Dudgeon is decent in his first episode, he is trying very hard to fill in the shoes. Samantha Bond and Susan Engel are fine as well.
. The story has some intriguing parts in it. The first murder is compelling and the humor is suitably wry. Sykes proves to be a delight to watch, such a lovely dog.
But....
. The acting is sadly not very good indeed. Clara Paget is not bad, but she is not a very plausible schoolgirl. David Warner goes a bit overboard with his performance during the latter parts of the mystery and Tim Dutton, Lucy Briers have been much better in other shows.
The murder mystery is not that interesting, to be honest. The subplots lack intrigue, the characters are lifeless and the dialogue is quite weak at times. Really agree that Ben Jones is written as a silly sidekick, who doesn't seem to know much about policework. The solution too (Peter is the killer) feels rushed and pretty obvious once one starts to put the pieces together. The motive for the murders are cliched as well.
Overall, not very good.
4/10 HK.
Let' s start with the good aspects.
. The production values of the episode are great. The direction's solid and the music always fits the scenery. Neil Dudgeon is decent in his first episode, he is trying very hard to fill in the shoes. Samantha Bond and Susan Engel are fine as well.
. The story has some intriguing parts in it. The first murder is compelling and the humor is suitably wry. Sykes proves to be a delight to watch, such a lovely dog.
But....
. The acting is sadly not very good indeed. Clara Paget is not bad, but she is not a very plausible schoolgirl. David Warner goes a bit overboard with his performance during the latter parts of the mystery and Tim Dutton, Lucy Briers have been much better in other shows.
The murder mystery is not that interesting, to be honest. The subplots lack intrigue, the characters are lifeless and the dialogue is quite weak at times. Really agree that Ben Jones is written as a silly sidekick, who doesn't seem to know much about policework. The solution too (Peter is the killer) feels rushed and pretty obvious once one starts to put the pieces together. The motive for the murders are cliched as well.
Overall, not very good.
4/10 HK.