It's becoming a familiar theme in TV dramas – the London detectives who move to quiet provincial towns but find themselves yearning for "the big cases and exciting days of old".
"Be careful what you wish for!" said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian by way of advice to these fictional police officers. Because "from Midsomer to Grantchester, the Calder Valley to Shetland, nowhere is safe from TV writers", said The Independent.
Perhaps if these policemen and women had watched more British murder mysteries, they'd be aware that "behind the picture-book hills and lakes, stone-walled lanes, and villages with nothing more than a pub and post office, there is plenty to be feared".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Suffering from a "sense of being outside the action", Riya soon has to draw together "disparate threads of local discontent: a missing Swedish tourist, a strange road traffic accident, and the re-emergence of a man, Eddie Wells (Barry Sloane), who she put away for a violent crime five years earlier". And there's also trouble at the bread factory and a "subplot involving protesters at a fracking site".
-
Obamacare: Why premiums are rocketingFeature The rise is largely due to the Dec. 31 expiration of pandemic-era ‘enhanced’ premium subsidies, which are at the heart of the government shutdown
-
Ultra-processed AmericaFeature Highly processed foods make up most of our diet. Is that so bad?
-
The GOP: Will it welcome antisemites?Feature That Carlson would grant Fuentes access to his massive audience is proof that his hate ‘is entering the MAGA mainstream’
-
Gen Z in Los Angeles, the end of ‘Stranger Things’ and a new mystery from the creator of ‘Breaking Bad’ in November TVthe week recommends This month's new television releases include ‘I Love L.A.,’ ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Pluribus’
-
The 5 best nuclear war movies of all timeThe Week Recommends ‘A House of Dynamite’ reanimates a dormant cinematic genre for our new age of atomic insecurity
-
Love chocolate? Travel to these destinations to get your sweet fixThe Week Recommends Treat yourself with chocolate experiences, both internal and external
-
One great cookbook: Niloufer Ichaporia King’s ‘My Bombay Kitchen’The Week Recommends A personal, scholarly wander through a singular cuisine
-
7 mountain hotels perfect for a tranquil autumn or winter escapeThe Week Recommends Get (altitude) high and unwind
-
The 5 best political thriller series of the 21st centuryThe Week Recommends Viewers can binge on most anything, including espionage and the formation of parliamentary coalitions
-
The 8 best dark comedies of the 21st centuryThe Week Recommends From Santa Claus to suicide terrorism, these movies skewered big, taboo subjects
-
Everything you need to know about last-minute travelThe Week Recommends You can book an awesome trip with a moment’s notice
