timherring-96550

If it was announced that Prime Suspect was to be brought back, and the first series had Dawn French as DCI Tennison investigating the village gossip's murder by trebuchet, all the while chucking in funny asides and double entendres, there would rightly be an outcry from fans of the original series. This, of course, will never happen, but when it comes to hugely popular 'cosy' series, which producers and directors obviously look down on, anything goes. Thus we get a 'brought up to date' Bergerac, which of course means lots of troubled souls, dark lighting, mumbled lines, convoluted plots, and last but not least a damaged lead. It's almost impossible to like this Jim Bergerac, an awesomely irritating individual who spends half his time contemplating his navel, the other half ignoring his superiors, work colleagues, and of course his daughter. Why did it have to be a remake? Call it Dubois, and set it on Guernsey, just leave the originals alone. Blimey, what a load of boring old twaddle.

I'm not trying to criticise the rating system or the reviewers, I just genuinely cannot comprehend how this bloated, unfocused film can end up only point one behind the original. I'm not a regular watcher of sci-fi, but thought the 82 offering a masterpiece, bringing together actors, directors & composers at their absolute peak, which could not (as 2049 surely proves) be repeated.