The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Set 2 (Acorn)
Picture: B- Sound:
B- Extras: D Episodes: C+
The work of modern suspense master Ruth Rendell takes place
in the shadowlands of human motivation. She is concerned with the
ambiguity of guilt, jealousy and its ramifications, and the hidden secrets of
flawed, damaged people. It is not an area that has failed to bear
fruit for Rendell, who is the winner of three Edgar and four
Gold Dagger mystery awards and one of the most revered and read writers in the
genre.
A note first about what this series is not. It
is not the extremely popular Ruth Rendell Mysteries of Inspector Wexford,
played by George Baker. This series is an anthology of mysteries, with an
ever-changing cast of actors, writers and directors. All six of the
mysteries in this box set are based on short stories coming from two of her
collections, The Fever Tree and The New Girlfriend. Each of
the three discs contains one 50 minute episode and one two-part episode of 105
minutes, tailored to fit TV formats.
As might be expected of an anthology format, this is a mixed
bag. One would think the short story might be ideally suited for
adaptation to this type of series but, sadly, that is not the
case. What is gained in simplification of storyline is lost in
explication of character. The compressed format just does not seem
to do justice to Rendell's subtle characterizations and their
psychological under-pinnings. In addition, without a main recurring
character or characters, each episode starts emotionally at square one.
Taken episode by episode, it goes something like this:
Bribery and Corruption,
the first two-part episode is the story of a quartet of lovers, new and old,
including a father and son, who seem the most normal of the lot. This is
one of two tales that most resembles a procedural detective story, but in this
the police are mostly background and the players in the fore. The acting,
including the James D'Arcy as the young Nicholas Hawthorne, is very good, as it
is throughout the series. This episode stretches the strands of
believability to the fraying point and the resolution is a bit pat.
Front Seat is bit
of a lark and might be best characterized as being sardonically wry as in the
average Roald Dahl story, with perhaps a bit more heart.
Edward Hardwicke (Dr. Watson in many of the Jeremy Brett/Sherlock Holmes
mysteries) has a nice turn as the beleaguered, henpecked husband, Hugh, who
ultimately takes matters into his own hands with unintended, disastrous
consequences. You can see this one coming from the quarter-pole and its
plot, execution and resolution would not be out of place in late
50's/early 60's television. Sophisticated it ain't, but a lark's a lark,
eh?
A Case of Coincidence,
the second two-parter, is nearly a full fledged procedural, with a
series of murders of young women and Chief Inspector Moore (not to be
confused with the above Chief Inspector Wexford or,
perhaps, do). There are a number of suspects to fit the number
of murders and, once again, one doesn't have to look far beyond the title to
smell the resolution around the corner. There is a fine bit of
acting by Michael Fitzgerald as Edward Brannel, a mentally challenged fisherman
who is one of the leading suspects. This one may satisfy your jones for
C.I. Wexford, but the satisfaction of its fix is instantaneous and its
disappearance likewise.
A Dark Blue Perfume captures
the feel of Rendell's not-so-typical characterizations. A
good local woman, Liz (Susannah York), liberated by the convenient death of her
annoying husband, falls for the new stranger in town; he, however, turns
out to be not so new and, actually, not much of a stranger. The
plot, unfortunately, is not up to the characterizations and Liz ends
up the last one in the village to suspect the depth of her new
lover's problem. Here we have murder by nostalgia, no mean feat, with
enough unrequited romance for a full length potboiler. Again, a pat ending, but a bit more substance here.
May and June is
the third two-parter and the most realized episode of this set. The
eponymous sisters are pitted against each other from early childhood and
eventually have a falling out when June steals her May's fiancé. The
story opens with the death of June's husband, May's former lover, and the two
come together at the funeral and attempt a resolution, attempt being the
operative word. It seems May, played with razor precision
by Phoebe Nicholls, doesn't really have her heart in it after all and,
after learning June has had a gentleman friend since before her husband's
death, knows precisely what to do. And does she ever do it.
Finally, there is The
Orchard Walls (a title taken from Romeo and Juliet), which may be
the most disappointing episode of all because it had the greatest
potential upside. A young woman is shipped off to her relatives in the
country during the Blitz in London and the viewer sees everything from her
romanticized, teenage perspective. Honeysuckle Weeks is perfect as
the young girl, Jenny, who, like the heroine of Northanger
Abbey, may be imagining intrigue and romance all around
her. Open ended and, as such, frustrating, The Orchard Walls may still be the
best episode in the set after May and
June. What’s captured here is the ambiguity Rendell is fond of and the viewer,
frustrated or no, cannot have their proverbial cake etc.
The series set, as a whole, is bare bones. There
is a biography of Rendell and cast filmographies, which are fine if you like to
read television. Bizarrely, the A & E-like title credits have been
left in the episodes, so there is no need to guess where the commercial breaks
might have been: they're there, sans the actual commercials! With so
little care given to the product, it is hard to imagine any but the most
diehard public television mystery fans caring either. The technical aspects are similar to the
first volume, which you can read more about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4910/The+Ruth+Rendell+Mysteries+–+Set+One+(Anthology
- Don Wentworth
