imposed upon thePast
|| Low tide onthe river. The Last Detective staggers over the fresh mud in an industrialbivouac to interview an associate of the victim as a welder works in the shadowof a listing boat... it could be a painting by L.S. Lowry but it isn't. Or: Aflooded quarry on the Welsh border. The Last Detective stands on the smoothrocks watching a police diver search the green water... this could be apainting by David Hockney but it isn't. Or: A comedian stands like a carnivaldoll in the footlights playing to his harem in a seedy Willesden social club,drinks a glass of wine laced with rat poison, drops dead on the stage... itcould be a painting by Francis Bacon but it isn't. These understated butfascinating visuals belong to Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective (the latestincarnation), an ITV series created in 2002/3 to fill the family hours justafter sundown on a winter evening.
Family viewing? Youhave to wonder, because while the gratuitous violence is mostly off-camera, andthere is occasional buffoonery, make no mistake, this is adult drama. The LastDetective was first filmed in 1981 as a single drama, and this updated seriesretells the same story in the pilot episode. Although it's all in color, thedocumentary finesse of the locations gives the action a neo-realist feel, sothat it looks like a sociological expose worthy of Vittorio de Sica.
True, the storiesunfold in the usual way as a series of interviews with witnesses and suspects,but there's something going down here beyond mere novelty. A sense of Time isin the faces of the characters, as if Dangerous Davies (Peter Davison) isinterviewing the complete cast of British society, where everyone is either asuspect or a witness or a squealer.
Everyone has a tragicflaw, a secret, and has probably murdered someone somewhere sometime. It's asociety where the Present is imposed upon the Past like another coat of paint,an existential concealment staged in the endless camouflage of shabby buildingsand second hand light. It seems England is a memory obscured by the present. Anabandoned horse stands on the pavement as if the suburb has just materialized,supplanted its pasture... a pram rises from the dirty waters of the canal... ap*rno vid is found in a drawer... and the victims: bodies in the garden, thetrash heap, the canal, the railway tracks... a secret chamber below thegreenhouse... burning studios and exploding cars, women who are mad, bad, anddangerous to know. And the lead character is afflicted by the romantic memoryof his marriage and its failure in the present, as if he's trying to recoverthe way it was once in sleepy old middle class Albion.
the lastEnglishman
Despite his handle as"The Last Detective" (a cynical witticism by his boss: "You're the LastDetective, Dangerous... the last one I'd ever think of.") Dangerous Davies isactually The Last Englishman. He prefers a pint rather than a Bud, an ironicrebuttal rather than a reactive fist.
His composure isdangerously obsolete, as are his values and his methods. "You're decent man inan indecent time," says his pal Mod in the pilot episode. Here, the murder hesolves is a police crime -- a sex crime -- and he finds himself shunned for hisgood work, and the real crime seems to be that he broke the collegial code, notthe mystery of a teenage girl murdered by a cop. He can't understand his wife'ssexual restlessness or the attitude of today's women in general, even thoughwomen like him, give him tea and sandwiches... and the stripper with the boawho lives on a barge probably gave him more. He's always working from thebottom up, from the outside in. He's merely "Detective Constable", a bumblerwho's never made the grade, and yet at the end of the day it's the good oldyeoman fortitude of Dangerous Davies that solves the crime. The primary Englishvirtues of perseverance and fair play are written in his source code. Sympathy,steadiness, suppression of self -- these codes predate the "Me Generation" yetthis is his generation. No malingering rebellion gone bad with middle-age, noself-pity... he's just a humble servant of the people in a raincoat and astation wagon that sometimes won't start, the Columbo of London N.W.10.
a drifter with anaddress
|| While InNorth America the "buddy cop" script paradigm started with the Robert Culp/BillCosby series I Spy (1965-68), it could be argued that it reaches back into theConan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories. It's certainly used a lot in recent UK TVcrime drama, such as Inspector Morse -- another English type facingobsolescence -- which is set further up the Thames Valley from the west Londonsuburb of Willesden that D.C. Davies inhabits. Of course Davies' "mate" isn't acop -- he's a drifter with an address, a flat which he sometimes shares withDavies when DD's wife or landlady won't have him around. He's on the dole,occasionally takes ludicrous temp jobs which are more like acting gigs. Mod istypical of his generation, unable to graduate to reality, full of paperbackideas, educated and lazy, a gentle soul too nice to be called a loser, althoughhe loses frequently.
What is "Mod" shortfor? "Modesty," says Dangerous to an old lady who asks. It certainly isn'tbecause he's a snappy dresser, a holdout from the "Mods" of sixties England,although anything is possible, as we know nothing about his past. He likesbooks, often has one on hand, such as a collection of Oscar Wilde. "I don'tcare who he shagged," says Mod. "He wrote a bloody good essay." And when he andDangerous are mistaken for a hom*osexual couple on the canal towpath by a pettycriminal, Mod snaps back, "How dare you -- I was once engaged to Miss GalwayBay."
Thus his Irishpedigree is revealed, and Willesden does have its community of Irishtransplants, a movement that started seriously during WW II. So he's an Irishdreamer, should be a writer himself, escape the curse of the leprechaun.Sometimes DD discusses a case with him -- in the pub, the car, the park, on thetowpath, somewhere between the bricks & the trees, walking the big dog --and more often than not Mod has some insight that proves useful. It might bespotting a revealing imprint on an old photograph (as in "Lofty") or setting upan association in DD's mind by an off-hand remark.
The crimes are almostirrelevant in this series because the action is carried by the strength of theprincipal characters and the documentary Willesden setting. Nothing unusual inthis, as it follows the tradition of the English murder mystery, which is morelike a game of Snakes and Ladders than a grim decoding of homicide. The crimesare invariably indiscretions, never cold-blooded slayings such as the exotickillings in CSI: Miami (Las Vegas, New York), for example. The mercy killing ofthe Balkan war vet Frank Moore in "Towpaths of Glory" (episode 10) is as brutalas it gets; the point of nihilism hasn't been reached.
However, the breachingof the cultural fabric that allows British common sense to always triumph mightbe on hand, as DD's colleagues seem to have surrendered to a xenophobiccynicism as a matter of machismo or caste survivalism. An alert comes into thestation about a load of Chinese illegals being smuggled into Willesden but whenthey stake out the dropoff, the operation is a bust. There are no illegals thistime.
Occasionally thecrimes act merely as a background to Dangerous' personal life, his problemswith Julie. The pilot episode pretty well lays it all out. Dangerous is in thecan washing his hands, a fellow detective at the urinal.
Barrett: Did I see youwalking your dog yesterday, Dangerous?
DD: You probably did.
Barrett: Ithought she had custody of the dog.
DD: She can't handle him.
Barrett:Oh? What I heard was she can handle just about anything... no offence,Dangerous.
DD: How can anyone take offence at you, Barrett?
Of course this cameonails the situation exactly. DD collects his dog like a father getting visitingrights to his kid just as an airline pilot arrives at the house to spend theevening with Julie. As they pass on the path DD's restraint is old schoolmiddle class England, the sort of Anglican fortitude that drove a generation ofmissionaries into Africa without complaint. No punch outs here, no head butt,no knee to the groin or dog attack, just some ironic remark... as if herecognizes this latest rival to be just another victim like himself. A decentman in an indecent world indeed.
the dreamy madnessof the living
|| As bodydramas go, The Last Detective goes light on the dead, heavy on the living.Corpses are seldom figurative art studies and when they are, there are nolingering photographic autopsies (well, one maybe... the has-been rocker TeddyO'Connor in "Three Steps To Hendon"). The dreamy madness of the living is thereal subject. In "Dangerous by Moonlight" an old terminal ballroom dancerrefuses to believe her husband is missing, but rather on a philanderingvacation, and dies happily unaware that she killed him during a drunkensquabble. In "Lofty" a successful female executive starts an impulsive affairwith a young married employee who accidentally causes the drowning death of anold vagrant war vet and in turn is killed in an auto accident while talking onhis cell phone to his lover. A cop lives the last 20 years of his working lifedevoted to a crippled wife even though he killed a teenage girl in a fit ofsexual madness... the various lovers of a murdered comedian delude themselvesas to his fidelity and talent... a female gardener and man-hater lives in artand dangerous obsession... a kindly old violin master kills in order to possessa classic instrument, etcetera.
The various episodesare a study of loneliness and involuntary disengagement. The context ismulti-cultural, a society where even the natives seem like foreigners. Blackcops & street criminals, European au pairs & Balkan refugees, gypsies,Hong Kong exiles & Indian exotics, uptown co*ckneys & Yorkshire bikers,they all look like passengers who wandered out of Heathrow and got lost inWillesden. It's the ebb tide of the colonial experience, a patriation ofcollaborators and victims, and a multi-cultural reinvention within the EuropeanUnion. It's no longer the BBC, it's the BBC World.
DD's boss isDetective Inspector Ray Aspinall (Rob Spendlove), a beautiful study of thefunctioning alcoholic. He carries a flask in his pocket, keeps a 26er in hisfiling cabinet, and is often the only guy at the bar in the police club. Talland nicotine thin, he carries his darkness well, even when hung over and fixinghimself a bromo & milk. He might have fits of sarcasm, he might beoccasionally insulting, but he is always fair. His subordinates respect himregardless and none more so than Dangerous. It's a beautiful thing to watch howthe bond between the two men develops within the episodes, goes from noconfidence to brotherly love. By episode 11, "Three Steps To Hendon" (story ofthe murdered rock star), the reversal is almost complete; Aspinall says he'sbeen asked to head up a new regional squad outside London, suggests that DDcomes with him as his "bagman".
A promotion? Dangerouschecks around, finds out something is wrong. He sees Aspinall in his officesays, "Guv... don't do it, it's a setup... they can't get the man they want, sothey're putting in a temp... if you take the job, they'll get rid of you." Therevelation hits the Inspector like a bullet; he stares silently at DD, thenpulls a whiskey bottle from a drawer in his desk, pours a shot. So much forgoing tee total. DD throws up his hands, exits. Stress, politics, the shaft.Last exit from Willesden is a vertical rise to the bottom.
By the next episode,"Willesden Confidential" (12), the circle closes. A boozed up Aspinall loses aconfidential police file in a pub, and Dangerous offers to take the fall"because I'm never gonna get promoted now, am I?" So there it is, DangerousDavies, the quintessential foot-soldier who makes the sacrifice, "falls on thegrenade" to protect his boss. Respect? A tongue lashing from a femalesuperintendent doesn't help, but he gets respect where it matters, from hisfriends and colleagues.
Iago &Iago
Detectives Pimlottand Barrett are always standing around like conspirators in a Renaissancerevenge tragedy... Iago & Iago. Wise guys in suits drinking Buds. Pimlott(Charles de'Ath) is a sort of co*ckney dandy, always spiffed out in a new suit& tie, maybe the latest overcoat. His car is new, good for extra mileageclaims. Because he's a Detective Sergeant, he outranks DD, and is always quickto "take the piss" out of him with a nasty little game or taunt. Like so manyin police forces everywhere, Pimlott could easily be mistaken for a hoodlum,although he's nowhere near as macho as he puts out. His day of reckoning comesearly in the series when he gets stabbed by the crazy female stalker in"Tricia" (episode 3); the irony here is that she is trying to get Davies. WhenDD visits him in hospital, Pimlott says, "What are you here for? You don't evenlike me." DD looks away, smiles, says, "No, I don't." DD doesn't hold grudges,is loyal to his unit, and things between him and Pimlott aren't quite so rudethereafter.
Yet this near-deathexperience doesn't completely divest Pimlott of his sexist bully persona wheninterviewing women, and there is one memorable scene where he gets slapped bythe widow of the victim when he moves in a bit too close and personal. "Whatare you?" she snarls. "A tit man? Arse, leg, what?"
D.C. Darren Barrett:he has very few lines, communicates mostly in the body language of smirks andquizzical glances. He could be a poster on the wall, a piece of culturalsub-text... which isn't a criticism, as this is how the producers want himplayed. Barrett at his desk, Dangerous at his. He's like a bored teacherwatching his delinquent student writing an essay in detention, both victims ofa mutual contempt. He's an effective prop, although as an acting gig, it'smoney fer nuthin', yer chicks fer free.
between thedots
Julie (Emma Amos). "Ican still remember the first time I saw her," says Dangerous (mistily). She's avery common type these days, in many western countries, part of the firstgeneration of women to be liberated by the birth control pill. There's noanalysis of her confusion here: she just is. Between the dots we recognize thatthe big St. Bernard dog is a substitute in a childless marriage now beached inmiddle age. A bit plump, lynx eyes & rich mouth like a Madame. She stillhas her erotic potential, although her best days are behind her. Clearly she'sthe one who called it quits -- she has the house, the dog, the vague agenda.
And her husband'scrime, if any? Being a bumbling loser who can't get promoted? Lousy in the sackor just a push-over, he who never slaps back? While she can date other men,whenever she suspects another lady is interested in Dangerous, she getsjealous. A pilot, an oil rig diver, a pandiculating executive... thesesubstitutes, these stand-ins, are invariably gentle souls like Dangerous,Englishmen drifting through middle age like clergymen without a church. Onlythe dog collar remains -- invisible, perhaps, but it's there, a shackle tosome, a life-belt to others. Their world has become a dumpster culture (theycall them skips), a modulating era of the continuous discard. No wonder murderis viewed as just another form of divorce.
Of course you wantJulie & Dangerous to reconcile, and as the series progresses Dangerouseventually makes his way back into her bed. There are many hiccups along theway -- the cell phone interruptions, the blundered remarks, the fakerendezvous... well, they even meet in a local pub, play it as a pickup betweentwo strangers, but within minutes they argue, split. "Ah the games peopleplay," sighs Mod somewhere, sometime when discussing one of DD's cases. In thissense, the biggest mystery in the series is the slow flying death of DD'smarriage.
Dangerous: (choked) Sowe've had three years of foreplay leading precisely nowhere.
Julie: I justwant life to sweep me off my feet.
Does it? Perhaps.Watch "Willesden Confidential".
The series is lacedwith nostalgia. All the characters carry their past like a b & wphotograph, and for most it was taken in the seventies. The target audience forthis show is definitely those in middle age or investigating retirement. Thebest episodes? They're all good, although "Lofty" with its brilliant cameo ofan old vagrant played by the veteran actor Norman Wisdom stands out. Hischaracter has a clever back story that reaches into a Nazi prison camp and anapparent hit list, although his fate turns out to be far less glorious &disconnected from the strange German beauty whose secret drives the action. AndDangerous has a romance of sorts with another lost soul like himself, a slimsocial worker who disappears back to Trinidad to find her son and husbandbefore we find out if indeed love has come again. Great plot, great characters,and the Willesden locations refine the vibe. Written by Richard Harris,directed by Matthew Evans.
"Tricia" (3) is alsogood, although some will say the featured character is just a British repriseof Glen Close as Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction (1987); of course anyone whohas worked downtown or in a university in the last 30 years will know thatTricia (Eleanor David) is an all too common type, the anti-male harridancalling herself a victim, longing for love, a romantic stalker on the edge ofpsychosis. Bad attitude, dumb ideology? Here the character is realisticallyshown transferring her obsession to the sympathetic Dangerous. Politicalcorrection 101. Written by Richard Harris, directed by Pip Broughton.
In The LastDetective, contemporaneity is sustained by its clear-view study of female andmale confusion. You want strange? Try getting a read on the mysterious widow(Susan Vidler) in "Christine" (5), who rattles the cages of all the boys in theprecinct. Nostalgia is working hard on the hearts and minds in "Three Steps ToHendon" (11), which deals with the suspicious death of Teddy O'Connor, the leadsinger of the defunct pop band The Overnight Sensations. His demise? The usualvomit choke after a night of dissipation in a Willesden pub. This story toucheson a couple of pattern-areas of male irresponsibility, i.e. the callous sexualexploitation of young girls and boys. A groupie commits suicide and her friendseeks revenge... and a young drummer is sexually violated by a creepy managerknown as Mr. Wonder... "the entry fee" to the world of glamour. There's a lotof cynicism in this drama, so it will be of no consolation to the targetaudience. So while the Last Detective is mostly a Comedy of Manners, it doeshave some of the same grim socio-psychological reality that madeCracker thegreatest detective series of the nineties.
What next? Adead-ringer for Lady Diana Spencer shows up in Willesden? Death is always amurder mystery, even if the facts suggest otherwise.
© LR8/07
Mcourt
