This ITV series is centred on Commissaris Piet Van der Valk, a cynical detective in the Amsterdam police. Each two hour episode features a separate murder inquiry in the sort of setting that is typical of the genre; those with an interest in mediaeval erotica and the art world... in other words people not like most viewers.
I vaguely recall seeing episodes of the original version of Van der Valk but not well enough to let memories of that spoil my enjoyment of this new series. I was concerned that having an English speaking cast playing Dutch characters may seem strange in an era when subtitled continental programmes are so common... thankfully I soon forgot all about that. The cases are interesting enough with plenty of suspects and motives and the central characters are pretty good. Marc Warren is solid as our eponymous protagonist and is ably supported by a good supporting cast. For the most part the stories are self-contained but there is character development through the series and one or two questions that remain unanswered at the end of the third episode... presumably the makers are hoping further series will be commissioned. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of the murder mystery genre; it might not be the best example but it is far from the worst.
I vaguely recall seeing episodes of the original version of Van der Valk but not well enough to let memories of that spoil my enjoyment of this new series. I was concerned that having an English speaking cast playing Dutch characters may seem strange in an era when subtitled continental programmes are so common... thankfully I soon forgot all about that. The cases are interesting enough with plenty of suspects and motives and the central characters are pretty good. Marc Warren is solid as our eponymous protagonist and is ably supported by a good supporting cast. For the most part the stories are self-contained but there is character development through the series and one or two questions that remain unanswered at the end of the third episode... presumably the makers are hoping further series will be commissioned. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of the murder mystery genre; it might not be the best example but it is far from the worst.