Doctor Finlay (TV Series) Mercury (1996) User Reviews

Strange and Dark

[deansscreen · 7/10 · 12 October 2021]

This series fairly often takes a turn into the depressing and confusing. It may have something to do with the setting: postwar Scotland, rationing, and a generally unsunny atmosphere. There must be something to the Scottish and British psyche that proves susceptible to this obscure sort of television (and literature, too). For audiences in other countries, I'm not so sure that the dark and confusing plots in the series make as much sense as they do to the people where they were produced. I'm not pleading here for an American-style upbeat and phony cheerfulness and simplicity. But Finlay's plots could have been constructed, it seems to me, in a more understandable manner.

Hear Sharon Small sings like a lark

[Joanie-33925 · 19 May 2023]

Every episode of "Doctor Finlay" is sublime, in acting, storylines, and scenery, but a special treat in this episode is Sharon Small (best known, perhaps, as DS Barbara Havers in "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries") singing, "Carrickfergus." The Irish folk song itself is haunting, and I've heard many sing it, but Small's rendition is mesmerising. Even Ian Bannen seems to transcend his character as he listens, spellbound. The scene is near the episode's end, past the sadness and angst, so stick around and savour the moment! IMDb states Ms. Small, in addition to her extensive acting credits, is "an accomplished soprano" and that is certainly evident herein. Just a nice bonus and finish to this tense episode.