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Janine Lewis has just been promoted to Detective Chief Inspector, but her excitement is quashed when she comes home to celebrate and finds her husband in bed with another woman. Janine now has to juggle her career and her three children – with a fourth on the way – all on her own.
Janine and her team of homicide detectives investigate the most gruesome crimes in Manchester. But even though the stories are dark and gritty, the show still has a touch of humor in it. The characters really click with each other and Janine’s team seems like a second family to her. She’s sometimes like a mother hen, keeping everyone in line and on task, while averting 
conflicts between the detectives.
There are a lot of UK crime dramas with female leads and I like that. Shows like New Tricks, Vera and Prime Suspect have women in the role of commander. And in Blue Murder, the portrayal of a high ranking female police officer balancing her work life and full family life is nicely explored. What do you do when you’re trying to catch a killer, but your children need you at home?
I really like Caroline Quentin. This was the first show I saw her in. There are a couple of others she is equally great in that I have yet to write about: Jonathan Creek and Life Begins.
MAIN CAST:
Caroline Quentin – DCI Janine Lewis
Ian Kelsey – DI Richard Mayne
Nicholas Murchie – DS Tony Shap
Paul Loughran – DS Ian Butchers
Total Seasons: 5 (19 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 5
In Production: 2004 – 2009
Viewer Discretion: violence, language
This show made me laugh out loud. It’s so ridiculous, so filled with nonsense, you can’t help but be amused. And it is shot in the retro style of the late 1970s, early 1980s, with the hairstyles, fashions, and props of the time period.
The series starts off with Victor being forced into early retirement. He’s been replaced with a black box! While trying to keep himself busy, he gets himself into some of the most outrageous situations, many caused by ridiculous misunderstandings. No episode is complete without Victor crying out the words, “I don’t believe it” or “Un-be-lievable!” For those of you who may be fans of Merlin, Victor is played by Richard Wilson, Gaius on Merlin.
suffering wife Margaret. She works part-time at a florist shop, thankful for the time away from her husband and his antics. She attempts to keep the household calm while dealing with Victor’s issues. How she’s stayed with Victor all these years is a mystery. But she really does love him, showing her jealous side when she thinks Victor’s been unfaithful. These two lines describe their relationship perfectly, 
“Victor is the most sensitive person I know, and that’s why I love him. And why I continually want to ram his head through a television screen.”
the main character is named “Victor,” since he almost always ends up a loser. I had never thought about that, but it’s so true!
Has this ever happened to you? You want to tell the girl you’ve had a crush on since you were 8 years old that you love her. So, you get drunk, go to her house to reveal your feelings and end up puking all over her little brother’s head. Or have you ever walked around an amusement park carrying the door of your new car? Has your dad ever asked to borrow your laptop to watch porn? Or have you ever punched a fish to death? No, well, maybe we Americans are not so similar to the British after
all.
Jay is an exceptional liar. He lies about everything but mostly he brags about sexual exploits he’s never had. Neil is a break-dancing fool who’s about as smart as a bag of spanners (wrenches.) Everyone thinks his dad is bent (gay.) Simon is a nice, semi-normal bloke who just wants a girlfriend, well, actually, just wants to get laid which is high priority for all the boys.
freely) it was covered with beeps. I was so glad to find at least the first two seasons available on Netflix streaming totally uncensored. Though some might be turned off by the foul language, I found this show hilarious.
involves the blackmailing of a minor member of British royalty and a beautiful dominatrix. “The Hounds of Baskerville” is about the genetic engineering of animals at a military base, and yes, there’s a large canine lurking about. And Sherlock’s nemesis, Moriarty, returns for the season finale in “The Reichenbach Fall.” This absolutely psychotic version of Moriarty, who we saw for the first time at the end of Series I, is even more evil at the end of Series II.
three episodes. Since there are only three shows per series, I didn’t want to watch them all at once, leaving me with nothing. So, I “rationed” my viewing. But after watching the third show, “The Reichenbach Fall,” I wish I had waited longer to view it. This was a cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers. AAAAAAHHHHH!
A lot of people blogged about Episode One of Series II, “A Scandal in Belgravia,” saying it was the best episode of the six so far produced. I found Episode Three much better, even though I was totally frustrated with the ending! The way the story was crafted and produced, shot and edited was top-notch.
misunderstandings. When Sybil storms off after an argument with Basil (she thinks he forgot their anniversary) Basil recruits Polly to play an ill Sybil to fool the guests coming for the party he’s planned.
If you’ve seen the US show Scrubs, it’s kind of like that, but a much, much more raunchy version. These doctors and administrators spend more time trying to get into each other’s pants than they spend interacting with their patients. It may be a “medical” show, but there are really no medical storylines. It’s all about the staff and their relationships, or lack thereof, with each other.
favorites, Mark Heap, who was fantastic in
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“Spanish Inquisition?” Nobody expects them!
I can recite all of my favorite sketches like “How Not to Be Seen,” “The Cheese Shop,” “Crunchy Frog,” “Self Defense Against Fresh Fruit,” “The Upper Class Twit of the Year,” and “The Piranha Brothers.”
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“That’s Numberwang.” There’s even a German version and a word version called “Wordwang.” A couple other bits include a documentary about the origin of Numberwang, a commercial for the home game and a trailer for the movie “The Numberwang Code,” kind of like “The Da Vinci Code.”
*The Surprising Adventures of Sir Digby Chicken Caesar: Webb plays Digby, an alcoholic, drug addicted homeless man who’s under the impression that he’s a secret agent. Along with his sidekick, Ginger, they commit various crimes while searching for their nemesis, whoever that is. This sketch is shot partially with a point of view camera, similar to the style of 
