"He didn't think Mr Trevor could organise a proverbial. Even in his own brewery."
Last episode was, especially on reflection, utterly superb. And so is this one, full of cleverly interwoven plot threads and nuanced characters played by first rate guest stars... until it isn't. The ending, with its sudden reveal of events back in history which motivated the murderer, doesn't feel earned and, although it doesn't exactly breal Father Knox's traditional rules of detective fiction, it isn't really in the spirit. None of this historical Knox stuff was forewarned to the viewer.
And yet the drama is excellent. Betty Marsden's racist mother, and Lionel Jeffries and Isabel Dean as the horribly snobbish family of the victim, all particularly excel, although we do find ourselves with that age old problem of detective telly, that the most famous guest actors are likely to be the ones whodunit.
The young Alex Jennings, though... wow. I realise he's been ubiquitous on television these last few years, but as a young actor he could exude such nuance and, yes, menace.
A flawed but impressive instalment, though. And, yet again, a remindwr that the world of my early youth is long gone. No more posh old people of that generation, and no more typewriters. But we have real ale still, and long may it persist.
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