In the fictional Yorkshire town of Wetherton, the unlikely duo of politically incorrect elephant-in-a-China-shop-copper DS Andrew Dalziel (pronounced Dee-ell) and his more sensitive and university educated sidekick DS, later DI, Peter Pascoe is always on hand to solve the classic murder mystery, while maintaining down-to-Earth wit and humour.
DS Andy Dalziel is forced to accept new recruit Peter Pascoe as the pair team up to investigate a serious murder case. Wetherton Rugby Club's golden boy, Sam Connon, wakes after arriving at home with a hangover, to find his wife, Mary,…
Episode 2. An Advancement of Learning
1996-03-23 · 75 min
Dalziel and Pascoe are thrown into uni life when the body of former uni principal Alison Girling—who supposedly died in a bus crash in Austria—is found underneath her own memorial statue in the car park. Speaking to all of the staff who…
Episode 3. An Autumn Shroud
1996-03-30 · 80 min
Having persuaded Pascoe to marry the long-suffering Ellie, Dalziel finds himself with the opportunity to whisk himself away on holiday while Pascoe is on honeymoon. But, as ever, events fail to go to plan when Dalziel's car breaks down…
Series 2
4 episodes · 1997
Episode 1. Ruling Passion
1997-06-14 · 80 min
Pascoe and a pregnant Ellie visit friends in Oxfordshire but are horrified when they discover the corpses of Rose Hopkins and two of her guests. Meanwhile, back in Yorkshire, Dalziel investigates a series of burglaries in which the thief…
Episode 2. A Killing Kindness
1997-06-21 · 80 min
A serial killer is targeting recently engaged young women, and, after every attack, phones the local newspaper and quotes from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'. Investigations centre around a fair, where the young relative of a psychic fortune…
Episode 3. Deadheads
1997-06-28 · 80 min
Dick Elgood, an old fiend of Dalziel's, unofficially reports two strange, nearly fatal incidents and asks Dalziel to investigate. The subsequent investigation exposes a chain of bizarre, accidental deaths stretching back nearly three…
Episode 4. Exit Lines
1997-07-12 · 80 min
A car crash leaves Dalziel suspended from duty, pending investigation into drunk-driving allegations. Pascoe probes the source of the claims against his boss, and exposes a web of conspiracy surrounding the violent death of an elderly…
There were twelve series of this British police drama made by the BBC between 1996 and 2007. These are feature length episodes that sees curmudgeonly Yorkshireman "Supt. Dalziel" (Warren Clark) teamed up with the enthusiastic young "Sgt. Pascoe" (Colin Buchanan) as they investigate a series of murders and similar crimes whilst getting used to each other's quite starkly different techniques and approaches to rules, regulations and policing. It's written using loads of engaging vernacular with "Dalziel" gradually having to get used to his new sidekick as well as his girlfriend/wife "Ellie" (Susannah Corbett) whilst introducing some regular team members - "Wieldy" (David Royal) and "Novello" (Jo-Anne Stockham) - all usually referred to by their nicknames. Guest stars usually feature and the plots move along entertainingly as the pair deliver some well written and characterised, if not very politically correct, investigations that occasionally take a swipe at societal dysfunction and bigotry. Towards the end of the run, though, it does start to focus a little too much on their respective relationship baggage and by the time the series concluded, the theme had become well and truly exhausted. The first five or six runs are well worth a watch if you like characterful detective yarns produced to an high standard with some quirky stories and the whole gamut of subjects covered.