George Gently
BBC1, 9pm
MURDER IN THE OUTBACK
ITV1, 9pm
As Chief Inspector George Gently, Scotland Yard's most incorruptible detective, Martin Shaw capitalised well on his large, slab-like head's growing resemblance to one of those Easter Island statue efforts. Aye, if it's looking impassive and/or vaguely saturnine while staring into the abyss you want, Martin's your man.
Those are not the only looks Martin Shaw has mastered, of course. Throughout George Gently's 90 minutes, his stoic bonce also hovered rather well between the polar extremes of pained playfulness and seeming wracked with grief.
George's grief was understandable after some evil low-life began proceedings, set way back when in 1964, by fatally crimping the cop's missus with a roaring Ford Zodiac.
Damnable business, that. It fair sickened Scotland Yard's most incorruptible detective for a while - that and his gutless superiors largely being in the pay of gangs of crooks.
George was actually on the brink of retiring altogether until his faithful Irish snout, China Mates, reminded him of how his wife had once summarised his attitude to his workaday pursuit of justice ("Mr Gently serves the public, it's his life.").
So sobbing manfully, George went after the bad guys one last time, thereby being given the chance to train playfully pained looks on his gauche and ultra-enthusiastic young sidekick, Detective Sergeant John Bacchus, played with a winning mixture of brio and fallibility by Lee Ingleby.
Much to Gently's dismay, you see, Bacchus was infected with what might be called Pre-Sweeney Syndrome: like 1970s telly Flying Squad legends Regan and Carter, he favoured nailing the bad guys by all means necessary (lying in court, slapping no-goods about in the interview room).
As Bacchus was pointedly asked by Gently: "Do you always decide who's guilty and then look for the evidence to support it?"
In this, George Gently resembled Life On Mars, with Bacchus a more redeemable version of Gene Hunt, while its eponymous hero hailed from the planet Principle, not unlike prim metrosexual cop Sam Tyler.
With its swinging sixties setting, George Gently recalled another cop show, Heartbeat, only with more class and wit, plus a much bigger budget. This allowed it to use genuine Rolling Stones tracks for its background music, rather than limp re-recorded versions, plus a better cast of cool retro motors (Gently's three-litre Rover P5 is a beezer).
The criminal investigation under the microscope eventually proved to concern the love between two men which, in 1964, dared not speak its name. Last night's pilot ended with George affectionately offering to continue mentoring his young charge. If a full George Gently series ensues, the pair will make a handsome couple.
Based on the harrowing high-profile real-life murder which enveloped British backpackers Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio, Murder in the Outback unfolded with a commendable lack of melodrama in two distinct parts.
Part one reflected Lees's terror-stricken night on the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory after the duo had been waved down by Bradley John Murdoch. Unlike her boyfriend, Lees escaped into the darkness, evading the evil Murdoch's fatal grasp.
But just like another real-life outback victim, Lindy Chamberlain, the mother whose baby was snatched from her tent by dingoes 30 years ago, Lees's lack of emotion in re-telling her plight led to her being tried and found guilty of her boyfriend's murder by a fascinated and cynical media.
Part two took the form of a more conventional, clinical courtroom drama, with a dashing performance from black-robed Aussie silver-screen veteran Bryan Brown. Come to think of it, if Martin Shaw doesn't fancy continuing as George Gently, Bryan would make a more energetic replacement.
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