Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Kate Phillips, Stuart Martin, Evan McCabe, Cathy Belton, Simon Ludders, Felix Scott, Paul Bazely, Tim Chipping, Stephen Boxer, Tim Downie, Matija Zivkovic, Florence Roberts, Lu Corfield, Igor Borojevic, Al Weaver, Rachel Dale, Ognjen Nikola Radulovic, Curtis Kantsa, Oliver Chris, Katherine Manners, Jonathan Rhodes, Laura Marcus, Antonio Scarpa, Ivan Tomic, Paul Kennedy, Matthew Steer, Alexandra Hannant.
It could be argued that the trailblazers of today have little interest in the past, acknowledging them in words, but not in spirit, for today it has been denigrated by the use of the label’s influencer and activist. This pair of human categorisations is all about the design of power, of force, rather than command and ability. They look to command but never understand, and never more so it seems in the practise of detection, of the trudge and subterfuge that comes adding a different dialogue to the affairs of conviction than a man can offer.
A female led detective series is nothing unusual in today’s terms, the dynamic offers a solution in the narrative that is found through alternative means, but it is in the way that it is presented that makes a phenomenal difference to the appreciation of the viewer and the application to history.
In one of the more endearing and positive female inspired detective dramas of recent years, Miss Scarlet and The Duke, the power to persuade of rightful change does not come from the voice of rule, but of an authority that is reasoned and practised, and it is to that end that the fourth series of the popular television series addresses with the loss of a major character, the restoration of law in the jailing of a partner, and in the enormity of an episode that looks back to the first meeting between Eliza Scarlet and the boy who would go on to become an Inspector of Scotland Yard, William Wellington.
The fourth series is one that truly places the stamp of Eliza Scarlet as a senior private detective, and whilst that is down to the excellent writing of Rachael New who expands on the character’s back story and future development, so the apportion of congratulations must also lay at the heart of Kate Phillips who has come to inhabit the soul of the Victorian sleuth with panache and fierce inner strength.
Trailblazers are not those seeking fame at the drop of a hat, but who endeavour to get their point across by picking at the thread of consistency and growth; and in a series which pushes the narrative with untethered hope, and which adds great performances from Stuart Martin, Evan McCabe, Paul Bazely, Tim Downie, and Felix Scott, as well as the voice of reason in Cathy Belton as Ivy, this fourth series of Miss Scarlet and The Duke is one of determined class and exposure.
A terrific reminder of the role of the genesis of true adherence to a cause, a series grounded in huge capacity and aptitude of production.
Ian D. Hall