John Madden, various others, British tv, 33 films, 1987-1999 (9*)
The highly successful BBC series about a police homicide inspector is popular for one reason: actor John Thaw, always an underrated actor (Goodnight Mister Tom, Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four), and always exactly what he should be for the role, and he carries everything he's in on his shoulders; here he's a lonely bachelor who likes opera, beer, and solitude. His repartee with co-star Kevin Whately as Sgt. Lewis, a likeable family man, keeps the crimes from being all serious; he seems to barely tolerate Lewis' lack of experience, and treats him more like a servant than an equal, looks at him with the disgust of a disapproving father.

Each mystery is actually film length, usually two hours, and each is very well written; the first dozen or so are from novels by the original author Colin Dexter. Some latter years only saw one produced per year. The series begins with The Dead of Jericho and finishes with a 33rd, The Remorseful Day, filmed while actor Thaw was dying. The highest rated by users are 1-Remorseful Day (#33), 2-The Way Through the Woods (#29), 3-Deadly Slumber (#26), 4-The Wench is Dead (#32), 5-Dead on Time (#21). This is as good as British mystery gets.