Blu-ray Review - George Gently, Series 3

It's tough to encapsulate George Gently. On the surface, the show seems like the typical British cop drama, full of darkness and intrigue. But as you progress deeper into the episode and deeper into the 1960s world that Gently inhabits, you'll find a strange contradiction. What you thought was darkness before is only a bleak sort of twilight, neither dreary nor lighthearted. It just is, as if the show simply can't bring itself to look into the darkness without shuddering, but can't stray too far into the light without abandoning its sense of realism. What results is a cop drama that's quite unlike anything I've seen in a long while.

It might all come down to Martin Shaw's George Gently, a quietly sad man who at the same time is a comforting presence. Even when staring down killers or suspected killers, Gently is sympathetic, always remaining calm in contrast to his partner, the brash and angry sergeant John Bacchus (played well by Lee Ingleby, or Stan Shunpike from the Harry Potter films). Gently only loses his cool once in the first episode of series 3, and when he does, it's a quietly scary moment that's more terrifying than any of the crimes he solves. Shaw commands the screen in every scene he's in, keeping Gently in a delicate balance between the darkness that you can tell is just beneath the surface, and the kindness with which he keeps it hidden. In one scene toward the end of the episode, an attorney for a suspect tells Gently that though he's a critic of the judicial system, he's loyal to it. Gently seems to quietly acknowledge this, though he ends the episode with a message of hope for the killer that he was able to catch -- whose life he's effectively ruined. It's a strange dichotomy, and one that permeates throughout George Gently: it hovers on the horizon between light and darkness, never doing anything but showing the true grey morality of the world and the kind, sad man who solves its mysteries.

George Gently, Series 3 hits DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, June 28.
Order George Gently Series 3 DVD


Order George Gently: Series 3 [Blu-ray]

Get The Latest Updates on Tv Series Follow us on twitter @thetvseries