Last month saw the end of "Grantchester" - it began back in 2014 with James Norton as Rev Sidney, then Tom Brittney [Rev Will] and finally, in series 10 & 11, Rishi Nair [Rev Alphy] and Robson Green as Detective 'Geordie' Keating throughout. It was all set in and around Cambridge in the 50's and 60's. Norton himself studied at Fitzwilliam College.
On Wednesday, Ben Miller [St Catharine's College] returned to ITV as the fastidious Professor T [ a spin off from the Belgian series] and on Thursday David Mitchell [Peterhouse College] was back as the cruciverbalist John 'Ludwig' Taylor. We watched Prof T and Ludwig, but I have a few comments...DON'T READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVE YET TO WATCH THEM
Spoiler Alert!!
We enjoyed Prof T this week, despite the absence of his eccentric mother played by Frances de la Tour.** His equally batty and quirky aunt Zelda [Zoe Wanamaker] filled the gap satisfactorily. But I missed Lisa Donckers [killed off at the end of last series] I love the Prof's smart, buttoned up [and gloved] persona. He's almost a British 'Monk'
Ludwig is back for a second series, and this time his sister in law Lucy [wonderfully clever Annas Maxwell Martin] gets a bigger share of the script. The murder was during the performance of an opera called Song of Solomon, and the cops picked up a baby doll, one of the props. I thought these were two huge pointers which nobody remarked upon. In 1 Kings chapter 3, wise King Solomon encounters two women [one lying] and a dead body. And he establishes whodunnit.
But Ludwig never mentions the Bible Story even though he has two women, one lying - and a dead body... I wait with interest to see if there are similar obvious, but unmentioned pointers in subsequent episodes.
Why is Oxford the serious crime place [eg Morse, Wimsey] whereas Cambridge is more cosy?
Are you watching Prof T and/or Ludwig?
Do you enjoy them?
I can remember when or why we dropped out of Grantchester... but we both enjoy Prof. T and Ludwig. I completely missed The Clue in Ludwig!
ReplyDeleteI think Grantchester lost its way a bit
DeleteAs an Oxford alumnus, I would have to say that those Cambridge people just don't take themselves seriously......compared to us!
ReplyDeleteMy OH might well agree!
DeleteI don't watch either of those shows. In fact, I rarely watch TV, these days, and I've been telling my daughter that we should just stop getting the TV services.
ReplyDeleteWhy pay for something you don't need or use?
DeleteWe watch both Prof. T and Ludwig. We both preferred the Belgian Prof. T but Ben Miller is ok however Frances De La Tour is much missed. We never watched any of the Grantchester series. Quite cosy and pleasant to watch but mentally I did find myself drifting off a bit in both. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteYes, I think I preferred the Belgian guy. I drift off to sleep regularly during TV progs now!
DeleteLove them both. It’s tempting to binge watch…but there are logs to stack….!!
ReplyDeleteI can justify daytime TV to myself if I'm multitasking (ironing, mending etc) but there are many other tasks to do
DeleteWe watched some Grantchester at the beginning, but then stopped. Ludwig is a series we're enjoying, but haven't got into Prof T. It sometimes feels that these detectives have got to be more and more weird or have a terrible homelife in order to stand out! Not an Oxbridge based crime but have you watched The Somerdahl Murders? (Spelling?) These are on Channel 4 Walter Presents, and are based in Elsinore, Denmark. We enjoy these.
ReplyDeleteLiz has just recommended the Sommerdahl Murders, I will have to try them out.
DeleteI always view second series with scepticism and wasn’t sure about Ludwig volume 2, but will give it a try. Professor T is new to us but we’ll try that too…….although Ben Miller played a buttoned up character in the Paradise series, it seems to be a writers favourite in these detective programmes 😀
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
Either they have no social skills generally, or are plagued by failed relationships!
DeleteThe Sommerdahl Murders is very good. We couldn't get in to Professor T this time and gave up, but enjoyed Ludwig. We also watch the Chelsea Detective and the Marlow Murder Mysteries starts again on Friday and Sister Boniface. Xx
ReplyDeleteDefinitely trying the S Murders. I like Chelsea Detective too
DeleteI have seen all the previous Professor T's, but I've not started on this series yet. I did try to get into Ludwig when it first came out but didn't manage it. Only yesterday my son was saying 'try again' ... so I might have to give it another go. I do like a 'cosy' detective drama, rather than the over the top gory ones. Our latest watch was Van der Valk, we both really like that.
ReplyDeleteYes to Van Der Valk, and I love what they have done with the original 1970s theme tune.
DeleteI tried and failed with Grantchester both the TV and the books - no idea why. And haven't seen the Belgian version of Prof T.
ReplyDeleteSo many Crimes - so little time!!
Didn't bother with the Grantchester Books, even though I sat directly behind the author's mother in Westminster Abbey once
DeleteWe gave up on Grantchester. The lead character seemed to be going ever further downhill and it seemed like a classic example of the entertainment industry portraying a man of the cloth as someone less than acceptable. We enjoyed the original Ludwig series a while back and now we are watching "Endeavour" on DVD and enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteI thought Endeavour was an excellent prequel
DeleteI haven't seen Prof T, but did watch Grantchester for the first few series and I am enjoying Ludwig.
ReplyDeleteMy husband's claim to fame is that he stood in a queue in our local supermarket behind James Norton when he was still playing the dishy Rev.
Oooh!
DeleteI tried Grantchester, but it didn't stick. I am enjoying Ludwig and am liking how AMM is getting more airtime. I didn't notice that the episode was called Song of Solomon. I like to think that if I had seen that, I would have spotted what Ludwig was up to on the stage. (I probably wouldn't, though)
ReplyDeleteI do agree that Anna MM is a great actor. Not so sure about her dinky little socks though...
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched any of those series. I did as you suggested and skipped the rest of today's post but I will be settling down to watch/binge some of them very soon.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
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