Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jason Watkins, Tala Gouveia, Jack Riddiford, Claire Skinner, Lily Sacofsky, Danyal Ismail, Sian Phillips, Alan Davies, Catherine Tyldesley, Holly Aird, Gabriel Bisset Smith, Charlie Chambers.

The locked room mysteries have not quite had their day, but they certainly have exhausted the imagination of many a writer; so much so that it will take a phenomenal tale worthy of being presented by a supreme great to revive significant interest in the genre once again.

Locked rooms offer arguably small satisfaction in today’s detective world, yet go beyond the deadbolts, padlocks, and hard fastened bars, and place the murder in the open air, have hundreds of witnesses in attendance, and yet still have nothing outwardly amiss, a small silent death that can be attributed in the right manner to almost anything, and anyone.

Such is the way that our life has become entrenched in the narrow view, survival being the catch word of the first half of the new decade, that we forget just how connected we are, just as c follows b and a, so all streets and roads lead to eventual cause and effect, and in the opening episode of the third series of Macdonald & Dodds, the old bluff of finger pointing is given a new belief as the apparent random death of a woman, one without struggle, one to whom shows no outward signs of discomfort and only joy etched serenely on her face is connected more heavily than initially seen.

In a remarkable turnaround the new series is given a fresher outlook as Claire Skinner joins the team as Chief Superintendent Ormond, and who looks set to offer the viewer a larger perspective of the dynamic of the inner workings of cooperation between the two main officers and that of the role of supervisor; something that unfortunately was missed in the first two series, even with James Muray having previously captured a more cynical eye of modern policing.

Belvedere takes the viewer down the path of linguistic reveal, the need to change one’s own voice to appear more respectable, and in this case to commit a heinous crime, is not lost on the investigation, and for DS Dodds, played by the ever reliable Jason Watkins, especially it exposes a lost memory that makes his own back story that much more considered, a framing of the man comfortable within his own small world, but who understands the connections as easily as the sensitivities of the criminal mind.

The series has come a long way since its initial first outing. What was perhaps almost unwatchable has become a decently produced and well thought out series, and Belvedere highlights the trust required for a television series to leave its own personal stamp on the viewers’ minds.

Ian D. Hall