The Long Call and Shetland.

I've always liked Dougie Henshall - he has a je ne sais quoi.

He was in the Peter Manuel story ,cant remember what it was called ,but set in the 50's and with his hat and his belted trench coat it could have been my dad ...spooky .The book is The Crime Pond but I'm fairly sure the series had a different name .Worth a watch though

I am a fan of Ann Cleaves so I recorded The Long Call. I started to watch the first episode yesterday but after half an hour I just found I wasnt engaging with it.
I still have the other episodes but not sure whether I will continue.
I dont know about anyone else but I am finding that over the past five years or so there are so many dramas that are endlessly advertised and they totally fail to live up to expectations! At best they are stretched over to many episodes at worst are non sensical poorly produced. Recent examples were Vigil which after a couple of promising episodes I gave up on. Hollington Drive(?) was another. Good potential and cast but not quite engaging enough and from reviews I have read not worth the time invested watching it!

The Peter Manuel story had Martin Compston as the baddie Paddyanne, if I remember rightly.

Found Long Call drawn out and boring. A pretty bleak watch and somewhat predictable. Am thoroughly enjoying Shetland so far. Love the way their team knits together.

They both seem to be trying to emulate the Scandinavian dramas but miss the mark.
Even though I can understand what they're saying & love the scenary, somehow, they're just not as engaging - yet.

Hoping there's more to come from The Bridge, Vallhallah Murders and of course the French series Spiral,.

I’ve quite enjoyed The Long Call, and have just binge watched the series today. I found that the female detective spoke really quickly but it might have been very noticeable as compared with the drawling speech of the other characters.

GrandmasueUK

I’ve quite enjoyed The Long Call, and have just binge watched the series today. I found that the female detective spoke really quickly but it might have been very noticeable as compared with the drawling speech of the other characters.

Yes, I've just watched the last two episodes and did get into it more.

The female detective gambled too fast and we had to put on subtitles to find out what she was saying.
Compared to Martin Shaw, Juliet Stephenson, Anita Dobson, who are all very experienced actors, her diction was terrible.

No! She didnt gamble - autocorrect.

She gabbled too fast.

I had the same problem with the female detective - she spoke in short rushes, and her diction was terrible. She ought to be told.

I can't imagine that she went to drama school!

Well, I'd eat my hat if I was wearing one:

Pearl Mackie is a 2010 graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School no less!

She needs to go back for another course.

I usually thoroughly enjoy Shetland but I must be going through a particularly stupid phase, there were so many names and characters, I couldn’t keep up! Every sentence sounded like “Mrs B was at Leckie’s house and she heard G telling A that she’d seen blah, blah, blah”! Just couldn’t keep up. I know it will get clearer eventually but just too many characters, all mixed up, I don’t know who they are talking about!

Didn't like The Long Call... thought it really boring but stuck it to the end.

Having lived in North Devon I thought the accents were a bit strange!!

And what I kept concentrating on ... and getting crosser with ... just about each scene the lead detective (Vann) always had his hands in his pockets . Very annoying

Having lived in North Devon I thought the accents were a bit strange!!
I thought they must have changed a bit since we lived there, Sheena

Mind you, I think the senior detective is a Devon boy!

but just too many characters, all mixed up, I don’t know who they are talking about!

Glad it is not just me Lucky. Once the series is finished, if I think it's worth it I may binge watch it so I don't have a week in between each episode to get even more

Lucky I love Shetland but thought dementia was setting in and my daughter who also likes it said she was having trouble
working everyone out
So glad it s not me

Haven't watched Long Call, but we always watch Shetland as we've been there on holiday, so like spotting locations.
Douglas Henshall seems older and slightly 'out of it' but I assume that's to do with loosing his mother, and his fathers dementia.

The Long Call was OK I thought Anita Dobson and Juliet Stevenson were the best people in it. Love Shetland. Watched Dougie Henshall in The Small Hand -seen it before but it is such a great ghost story.

I liked the Long Call. I found the brethren slant interesting - the effect they had on that poor man accepting ( or not) his sexuality very poignant.

Calistemon

We watched the first episode of The Long Call just to try and spot the locations!

Yes, Jimmy Perez does seem to have aged a bit but Shetland is still worth watching.

That’s why we watched it ( first and second episodes) but then lost interest.Boring and poorly written.

Just watched the first episode of Shetland tonight and said the same ‘hasn’t he aged!’ ( poor chap)?
Thought it was alright.....but not riveting, hope it gets better soon.

I did stick with The Long Call and it got better.

However, just watched Dalgiesh and thought that the actor playing Dalgiesh, Bertie Carvell, was very good.

I like Shetland and Dougie Henshall

Calistemon

^Having lived in North Devon I thought the accents were a bit strange!!^
I thought they must have changed a bit since we lived there, Sheena

Mind you, I think the senior detective is a Devon boy!

I live in North Devon and I can assure you the accents were very strange!

I think the lead actor is from Exeter, Shinamae
Of course, even Devon accents vary and his is nothing like a Barbican accent either!