Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Kate Phillips, Tom Durant-Pritchard, Cathy Belton, Paul Bazely, Simon Ludders, Evan McCabe, Tim Chipping, Felix Scott, Amy Marston, Paul Thornley, Nitin Ganatra, Lucy Liemann, Stephen Hartley, Stephen Boxer, Karl Theobald, Andrej Sepetkovski, Joseph May, Paul Leonard Murray, Rebecca Collingwood, Ian Hughes, Paul Lacoux, Petar Zekavica, Milos Pantic, Brian Bovell, Vahidin Prelic, Milan Cucilovic, Ivana Adzic, Milan Milosavljevic, Branislav Zeremski, Robin Weaver, Anna Wilson-Jones, David Sturzaker, Lindsay Bennett-Thompson, Nikola Surbanovic, Filip Radovanovic, Joakim Tasic.

Despite losing one of its main characters from the series, and from the series title name, the Victorian era detective drama of Miss Scarlet is proof positive that given enough time a series can become more than just another foray into the mind of those embroiled into the darker side of humanity but can become compulsive and demanding viewing.

From its average start in its first season, the life of Eliza Scarlet has continually gained traction upon the viewer’s imagination; and as the otherwise titled Duke from the title, portrayed by Stuart Martin, has made his way to America to further his career path, so the fifth series effectively becomes its first; the shortening of the programme’s heading given cause to understand that from here on the sacrifice and the ownership, despite the increased perception of its supporting characters, now firmly falls upon the acting resilience and talent of Kate Phillips.

One of the most terrific actors to have come along in a while, in television terms, finds herself leading a series, and as the crimes in the 19th Century become ever more involved, as the introduction of Tom Durant-Pritchard as the former Afghan War veteran, Detective Inspector Blake, asserts his dominance over his new patch, so the creeping darkness of felony and murder threatens the safety of London and its people.

The feel of the series has picked up a pace, the understanding of growth as the acceptance of female detectives, even female spies in charge of a division with the Government, takes hold, so the ownership of grandeur, of pressing home the dishonesty of the age bares fruit.

Perhaps one main advantage that the series has, even over others in the television detective drama, is that it does involve what many would consider proper techniques of police investigation; there is no reliance on many modern-day scientific methods and electronic certainties. Like the indisputable master of them all, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Scarlet relies on the methods of the time, she works with her wits but also has the predicament of fortune and luck sometimes aiding her, often thwarting her, and for that the series glows in detail, expression, and drama.

With great support from Simon Ludders, Evan McCabe, Cathy Belton, Tim Chipping, and Tom Durant-Pritchard; the fifth series involving the titular Miss Scarlet is a charming and endearing examination of detective fiction in the 19th Century.

Ian D. Hall