Jericho of Scotland Yard - Set 2 [DVD]

Inspector Michael Jericho is a workaholic, who expects the same from his long-suffering sergeant, Clive Harvey, and his trying-to-get-married DC, John Caldicott. It’s 1958 and the major societal shifts of the 60’s are barely blips on the radar. Some people are ready for a shift from racism and sexism, but it’s not happening yet, and these -isms raise their ugly heads in Jericho’s cases and in his London police department.Episode 1 “To Murder and Create” An obviously uncomfortable Professor Charles Hewitt is being interviewed on television. He is the face of the H-Bomb industry and tries to explain: “Sometimes it’s necessary to kill in order to preserve life.” This goes down very ill with the members of the Ban-the-Bomb group watching the interview.But it’s Valentine’s Day, and Hewitt goes home to tell his bedridden mother that he is going out. It must have a heck of a date, because the next morning Hewitt’s body is found at the Thames’ riverside: “He’s been strangled with cheese wire and his mouth’s been stuffed newspaper.”MI5 is sure that it’s a political assassination, so Jericho is NOT supposed to work it like a regular murder. But Jericho is not very good at taking orders.Not only that, but Assistant Commissioner Cherry issues a warning: ‘I’ve received information from a man at the local newspaper, that alleges you have been having a relationship with a common prostitute…. I’ve been sent photographs.” We know what Jericho only suspects. Another cop, in the pay of a crime boss, is behind the smear. This makes the series feel like a 40’s noir. Yet it’s set in the late 50’s.Episode 2 “The Hollow Men” Jericho is gathering some ribbing, and some resentment, from the cops in the stationhouse. He’s not only a “hero” (see Set 1), but the BBC is filming him in an introduction to a new TV series: “Good evening, all. I’m Inspector Jericho of Scotland Yard. Tonight you will see one of the recent cases of mine, dramatized for your entertainment. The parts of myself and others will be taken by actors…. The Metropolitan Police are dedicated to rooting out crime in the capital, whether it’s among London’s poor or its high society. It’s powerful, or it’s weak.”It sounds nice, doesn’t it. But Jericho knows it isn’t necessarily so. In the meanwhile, young Diana Hunter skips out of her cello lesson to walk with her beau, neither of them to return alive. Will being a hero get in the way of solving a murder?I thought this was a very well-crafted episode.The two episodes on “Jericho Series 2” originally aired in England in 2005. It did not gain a lot of traction in the important American market, partly because it was compared unfavorably to “Foyle’s War”. I am a huge fan of “Foyle’s War”, but it does a disservice to “Jericho” to only complain that it is not “Foyle’s War”. “Jericho” has nicely-plotted mysteries, even if it doesn’t have the historical depth of “Foyle’s War”. It might have been better received if it had had better production values. That is, if it actually looked like the late 50’s.The two episodes in this series total 201 minutes. The longer episode length allows exploration of several story threads, making a more complex mystery. There is one important story thread, carried forward from Series 1, that is not resolved by the end of Series 2, to my immense annoyance. Obviously, the producers were hoping that this atmospheric show was going to continue onto a series 3, but it didn’t happen.Trivia: The London smog is almost a character in “The Hollow Men” episode. It’s based on a real occurance. Wikipedia even has an entry for “The Great Smog of ‘52”, also called “The Great Smoke”. It’s estimated that almost 12,000 people died prematurely due to respiratory problems. After all, most houses and buildings were still heated by coal. Movie houses really were forced to close down, as the audience could not clearly see the movie screen.“The Bridge on the River Kwai” was released in 1957 and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It makes sense that it didn’t make it to England theaters until 1958, as this is long before the digital age.Combined, “Jericho” series 1 and 2 have a lot of enjoyable mystery viewing. It’s too bad that it wasn’t allowed to mature and find its audience. You can buy the two series separately, or there’s a combined set also on amazon:Series 1: Jericho of Scotland Yard – Set 1 Combined set of 1 & 2: Jericho of Scotland Yard – Series 1 & 2 Happy Reader

This series is brilliantly done, with a wonderful cast (not least the versatile Robert Lindsay), great direction and fantastic music! I cannot understand reviewers of the first DVD saying they hated the music. It was one of the most exciting scores for a TV drama in a long time. And there were others that declared it not as good as Midsomer Murders! Unbelievable! Midsomer Murders is a boring hack job. Jericho is on a whole other plane.My favorite of the two episodes in this release is To Murder and Create. Absolutely outstanding performances from everybody. And what a cast! How can you beat an episode with Jane Horrocks, Claire Bloom, Nicholas Farrell, Geraldine Sommerville and Peter Bowles?I am bitterly sorry that they are not making any more of this series. Perhaps Jericho can join the French police while making a good life with Juliette. That would take him into Maigret territory, but could inspire some interesting stories.

timely

BEWARE!!!!! Jericho of Scotland Yard 2 does not mean Season 2! We bought season 1 & thoroughly enjoyed the 4 episodes. Jericho2 is an exact repeat of season 1. I don’t know if this is some sort of scam or a deliberate play on words; even the case is different on this so called 2. I expect a full refund!

Like. How many seasons is this show.

Good show.

Great, great , great, super enjoyable, I love the box set - it is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon (and evening)

I hate having an order cancelled which this was. The Jericho #1 was great and I was looking forward to this one.

This dvd was a rehash of some season 1 episodes. Not pleasant

wish there was more episodes.