September 2005 DVD Reviews & Video Reviews

Hetty Wainthropp Season 1

Acorn Media Publishing
DVD
Suggested Retail Price: $53.99 or as low as $53.99 from Amazon.com!

It just gets better and better for us Anglophiles who love the Britsh mysteries. Patricia Routledge who charmed and delighted us all in her series on PBS “Keeping Up Appearances,” where she plays a silly role of an upward pushy lady with iffy relative. She has come back in a perfect roll for her. Now she has just turned 60, but doesn’t want to be a senior citizen. Money is tight and Hetty decides that she should look for work. As you may guess, that doesn’t work out at all. She finally finds a spot working in a local post office. When she suspects that young couple who regularly pick up the retirement checks for an old lady of lying and stealing. She chases down the truth and finds a murder. She also discovers that she has a talent for sleuthing. Hetty makes a decision at this point and goes into her own business as a detective. Her husband is baffled but comes to believe in her. Hetty finds a young man who is about to get into trouble. She takes him on as her assistant. They make a great pair as they go one to solve more mysteries.

Foyle's War Season 1 & 2
by Simon Passmore

Acorn Media Publishing
DVD
ISBN# 1-56938-713-3
Suggested Retail Price: $59.99 or as low as $44.99 from Amazon.com!

Michael Kitchen was the perfect choice for the part of Chief Inspector Christopher Foyle. His mild manner is a deceptive cover for his determination and devoted to his job. The stories are set during World War II. The place is the Southern England countryside. Foyle is not part of the fighting front, he is in charge of a small police station in a small geographical area that looks peaceful. His son is a pilot in the RAF who joins up just as the series starts. Despite feeling far removed from the war effort, Foyle finds espionage, black marketers, and murder on his plate.

Not only is Kitchen a very likable character, he has taken as his driver a young woman who is a delight to know. Her real name is Honeysuckle Weeks and she is a standout actress in the series. She is so cute that you have to watch your blood sugar while watching her. The rest of the cast is excellent as well, from Foyle’s fighter pilot son to his assistant detective sargaent who's just out of hospital having lost a leg in the war.

I was engrossed watching the impact of the war on the English populace in such episodes as "The German Woman", a tale about the German wife of a wealthy landowner. The town hates her (both for being German as well as for being rich and able to buy black market meat), and when she is found dead, it's up to Foyle and his group to solve the mystery of her murder. Was it someone from the local village that was just bombed by the Germans? Did it have something to do with the black market smuggling? Or was it the jealous daughter-in-law?

There are tales of the RAF, saboteurs, and war games. Every story is A-1 in my book. These are low-key adventures set in a time when Britain was fighting for its existance. The Foyle's War series are a pleasure to view, and a must-have for mystery lovers. Especially those of us who love the British mysteries.

Wilder Days

Paramount Home Entertainment
DVD
ISBN# 1-4157-0890-8
Suggested Retail Price: $14.99 or as low as $13.49 from Amazon.com!

Peter Falk plays the part of a stubborn grandfather to perfection. This grandfather has a great imagination and can tell stories that his grandson loves to hear. But his son (Tim Daly) had his fill of his father's stories. He had heard them all over and over, but since his father was away from home so often, he feels only resentment toward his vagabond parent. Now the son wonders if his fathers tales really true? They call grandpa “PopUp” because he made pop-books about his stories. Finally the father decides that Pop-up can no longer live alone and they take him to a rest home. Grandpa Pop-up escapes and with the help of the grandson. They take off to search for grandpa dream tale and to prove it is true. Along the way there are lots of little adventures. The son is quite upset about the escape takes off on his own adventures in the search. He is never far behind the culprits.