Grace (ITV1)
One of the advantages of the South Coast, apart from its mild climate and good transport links, is the scenic setting it offers for murder.
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, in his home area of Brighton, doesn’t have to deal with the windswept moors or gloomy tenement buildings that are the usual stomping grounds of colleagues like Vera and Rebus.
One of her victims, when Grace returned for a fourth series, was suffocated in a cliff-top car park on the South Downs overlooking the Channel. A good spot for a picnic, as long as you go on a day when it’s not in use by vengeful gangsters.
Another, the charming and carefree Aileen, lived in a Victorian villa with high ceilings and parquet floors. The disadvantage was that she was constantly harassed by street vendors, antique dealers and men from the water company.
You might think that the hydraulic engineers were the worst, since they were the ones who tortured Aileen to death before stealing her safe. But in my opinion, the woman selling timeshares in Spain was the real villain, and not just because she happened to be the head of an organised crime family. Cold calling is a real pain.
John Simm as DS Roy Grace and Zoe Tapper as Cleo Morrey in the ITV1 crime drama
(Left to right) John Simm as DS Roy Grace, Brad Morrison as DC Nick Nicholl, Craig Parkinson as DS Norman Potting, Laura Elphinstone as DS Bella Moy and Richie Campbell as DS Glen Branson
Grace is a returning British ITV drama series based on the award-winning Roy Grace series of novels by Peter James.
Based on the excellent novels by Peter James, Grace is a meticulously plotted series made even better by a brilliant cast. John Simm plays the restless, conscientious and demanding detective of his team, but equally willing to give praise and support – the complete opposite of the “maverick” type who stars in most police dramas.
In the 1950s, with police heroes like Gideon and Dixon, men like that were the ideal archetype. They are no longer in fashion now.
Grace’s weakness is the anxiety he gets from remembering his wife, Sandy. She disappeared a long time ago, but, unbeknownst to him, she’s back in Brighton, spying on him and his pregnant new girlfriend, Cleo. Is it Sandy (Clare Calbraith) who left a burning baby carriage outside Grace’s house, or is it one of her many other enemies?
Either way, Grace is still half in love with Sandy. “You don’t have to live in the past, just let it go,” she pleaded with Aileen’s heartbroken brother, an empty sentiment that earned her a sarcastic look from her partner, DS Branson (Richie Campbell).
Carolyn Pickles as her character Aileen Daly, who is tortured to death by hydraulic engineers before her safe is robbed.
Guest star Robert Glenister plays Gavin Daly in the fourth series of the ITV1 crime drama.
Laura Elphinstone plays the witty and straightforward Sergeant Bella Moy, a woman destined to become the world’s most important police chief. And Craig Parkinson is her opposite, Sergeant Norman Potting, so rude and antagonistic it’s a wonder he hasn’t been relegated to traffic control duties.
Guest star Robert Glenister had a blast playing an East End tough guy on the trail of his father’s stolen pocket watch.
The chase ended in the sewers beneath the streets of London, and in a scene that hinted at an homage to Orson Welles’ The Third Man.
With a balanced mix of action and deduction, private life and public duty, Grace stands a level above the rest.
