The New 'Lynley' Is Upstaged By His Sidekick & the Scenery

BritBox’s newest reboot of a classic detective series, Lynley, premiering this month on both sides of the Atlantic, boasts a formidable cast led by Leo Suter (Sanditon) as the titular aristocratic DI Tommy Lynley and Sofia Barclay (Prime Target) as his working-class sidekick Barbara Havers. Elizabeth George, on whose novels the series was based, is part of Lynsley’s creative team, headed by Sherlock writer Steve Thompson and directed by Ed Bazalgette (Marie Antoinette). The team has updated the series to reflect the present (particularly in terms of technology) and filmed it in Ireland, which gives a remarkably good imitation of Norfolk. However, the show is missing one key ingredient.

The good news is that the show is unreservedly gorgeous to watch (as are its two leads). With only four episodes to prove its worth until next time, and some variable pacing as elaborate plots unfold, it’s a mixed pleasure.

The title character, Thomas Lynley, is in line to inherit an Earldom, with a background and personality that both over- and under-qualify him for police work: a Law Degree from Balliol, Oxford, fast-track officer training at Hendon Police College, and a stint at the Met in London. Now he’s in rural Norfolk, to work with DS Barbara Havers, who is not pleased about becoming “... nursemaid to some fresh-faced city boy who doesn’t know his arse from his elbow.” Naturally, he overhears this within his first minute in the office; it’s pretty much a convention of the genre.