George Gently, Series 6 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

George Gently, Series 6 Blu-ray Movie Review

Aftermath

Reviewed by Michael Reuben March 24, 2014

Warning: The following review assumes that the reader is familiar with previous seasons of George Gently, especially Series 5. If you have not seen Series 5 and proceed past this point, you will encounter spoilers.

When the final episode of Series 5 of George Gently concluded on September 16, 2012, viewers were left with a cliffhanger. Both Det. Chief Inspector Gently (Martin Shaw) and Det. Sgt. John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) lay grievously wounded on the floor of Durham Cathedral after a shootout with Gently's former friend and colleague, now thoroughly corrupt and desperate to cover his tracks. The two partners' trust in each other had been reestablished, but would they survive? Some viewers thought that this was the tragic end to the series.

But no series as popular as George Gently ends before its time. Besides, recovery is more dramatically interesting than death. When Gently and Bacchus returned to British TV screens just five months later, the first order of business was to deal with the aftermath of their brush with mortality. Acorn Media has been unusually prompt in bringing these episodes to U.S. viewers, releasing them on Blu-ray and DVD just over a month after their initial airing in the U.K.

Series 6.1: "Gently Between the Lines" (Feb. 6, 2014)

A number of months after the events of "Gently in the Cathedral"—some sources say six, some nine, some twelve—DCI Gently has sufficiently recovered to return to active duty, where he is stunned to receive a letter of resignation from Bacchus. Visiting his sergeant at the convalescent home that Bacchus is in no hurry to leave, Gently confronts his friend and colleague, and the two men's different attitudes toward their survival pour out of them. Gently decides to put Bacchus to the test. Department regulations require a month's notice. Give me a month on the job, says the DCI. Then decide.

The case that will test Bacchus' mettle is a painful one, because it involves investigating other cops. A vagrant named Simon Thomas (Paul Dingwall) has died in police custody in Newcastle, where the station commander is Chief Lewington (Robert Pugh). Thomas was arrested when a protest against the demolition of houses to make way for new construction erupted into a riot, in which an officer was fatally injured. The precinct's officers are suspected of taking their revenge on Thomas in his cell, then leaving him without medical attention, perhaps unaware of the seriousness of his injuries. Gently and Bacchus find the ranks in Newcastle closed tight against them, as every officer backs up the others. When the outsiders aren't so easily dissuaded, the local constabulary hands them a sacrificial lamb in the person of WPC ("woman police constable") Rachel Coles (Lisa McGrillis), who had the misfortune to be the officer who discovered Simon Thomas dead in his cell. No one thought much of female constables in this era, which makes WPC Coles expendable.

When Coles is forced to resign and accept full responsibility, Gently and Bacchus know they are onto something, but the truth proves to be more elusive than a simple case of police revenge. In identifying the true killer, the partners must confront the fact that the relationship between the community and law enforcement is changing for the worse. The police are now the enemy. Oddly enough, the experience seems to revive Bacchus' enthusiasm for the work, perhaps because he has always thrived on conflict. The case also brings a new regular to the series, because Gently is sufficiently impressed with WPC Coles to offer her a permanent position in his precinct at Durham.


Series 6.2: "Blue for Bluebird" (Feb. 13, 2014)

A young girl's body is found on the beach in Saltburn wearing the uniform of the nearby Bluebird Holiday Camp. She will shortly be identified as Megan Webb (pop star Pixie Lott, who appears in flashbacks). As Gently and Bacchus will soon discover, Megan had taken the job at Bluebird to escape a suffocating home life, in which her disapproving mother (Emma Fielding) discouraged Megan's every ambition to sing, dance and perform.

Bluebird was once a thriving facility. In happier days, before his divorce, Bacchus spent time there with his daughter and former wife. With changing tastes, however, attendance is dwindling, and the brother and sister in charge of the camp, Todd and Cherry Stretch (Lee Boardman and Andrea Lowe), have organized a constant schedule of activities and entertainments to give attendees a memorable experience that will keep them coming back (and perhaps provide good word-of-mouth). Megan's singing talents made her a popular attraction, and she seemed to enjoy working at Bluebird, but Gently and Bacchus quickly uncover indications that something had changed recently. Megan had broken up with her boyfriend, a handsome employee named Gary Manners (Neil McDermott). Her roommate, Justine (Jodie Comer), says that Megan wouldn't give the reason. Megan's whereabouts on the night she died are the subject of conflicting reports.

Bacchus finds this investigation especially hard, because it reminds him of his own shattered family life. He only sees his daughter, Leigh Anne (Katie Anderson), one weekend a month, and his relations with his ex-wife, Lisa (Melanie Clark Pullen), are so tense that he cannot manage a civil conversation with her about changing the terms of access. Gently, who owes his life to Bacchus, tries to serve as the voice of reason. Without telling Bacchus, he asks Lisa to meet him privately. She resents the interference, but if one recalls their interactions in Series 3, she also respects the older man's opinion. And Gently shares with her something about himself that he has told no one else, not even Bacchus.


Series 6.3: "Gently with Honour" (Feb. 20, 2014)

In an unusual turn for an episode of George Gently, the killer's identity is known from the outset. The essential question is motive, because there doesn't appear to be any.

A young man named Scott Tanner (Oliver Johnstone) checks into what was then known as a "Turkish bath", which was a code name for a gay bathhouse. When another client approaches him, Tanner goes berserk, beats the man to death and runs out, wearing only a towel. Since he has left his clothes and ID behind, Tanner is immediately identified and shortly apprehended, but he says he cannot remember what happened.

Tanner's only living relative is his older brother, Mark (William Ash), a former soldier and now a paid mercenary. He spends most of his time abroad and barely knows his brother, but insists he isn't gay. Scott Tanner himself was discharged from the military for medical reasons, but Gently and Bacchus cannot learn anything more about him. Scott's former commander, Col. Darwin (Oliver Milburn), says he doesn't remember him. His Army-assigned psychiatrist, Dr. Stefan Lesley (Daniel Lapaine), hides behind patient confidentiality (while making vague noises about schizophrenia). And a colleague of Lesley's, Dr. Jennifer Bing (Jemma Redgrave), invokes the Official Secrets Act. Gently, whose own experience in the military has left him with good instincts for how it operates, smells a coverup.

Shocking events following the police interview with Dr. Lesley lead Gently and Bacchus to a military research installation called Hopewood. If they can get past the stonewalling, it is there they will find the truth.

The Tanner investigation comes at an especially apt moment for Gently. He has recently attended the funeral of a comrade in World War II who had committed a war crime. Gently's failure to report it has weighed on his conscience for years, and he says as much at the funeral to Brigadier Phillips (Pip Torrens), who was their commanding officer at the time and clearly doesn't want to be reminded of the incident. "You know what, sir?", says Bacchus, after Gently tells him the story, "So much suddenly makes sense about you."


Series 6.4: "Gently Going Under" (Feb. 28, 2014)

Gently and Bacchus are called to Burnsend Colliery in Northumbria, a coal pit under threat of closure, when the body of shop steward Arthur Hawkes (Ralph Ineson) is found deep in the mine with his head bashed in. Bacchus, who joined the police force to escape the miner's life and has suffered his father's reproaches ever since, is less than thrilled at having to don the requisite gear and descend 800 feet below ground to visit a crime scene. Gently is game for the adventure, but then a minor cave-in knocks him into a jagged metal bracket, which tears open the recently healed bullet wound on his leg. A nurse stitches it closed, but healing is slow and painful.

It's a bad time for Gently to be injured. The top brass are fed up with his maverick ways, and they're as eager to rid themselves of the crusading DCI as his London superiors were five years earlier. They've offered him a promotion to Superintendent—in the Traffic Division—along with none-too-subtle hints that, if he turns it down, he'll be pushed off the force. Chief Supt. Langham (Nicholas Rowe) begins monitoring the Hawkes investigation closely, looking for anything he can use to prove that Gently is unfit.

The Hawkes case puts Gently and Bacchus squarely in the middle of huge social and economic forces transforming Great Britain long before Margaret Thatcher's famous confrontations with English miners in the Eighties. A way of life was ending for entire communities built around mines like the Burnsend Colliery, and the issues raised by such changes prompted passionate debate, which are reflected even in the discussions between Gently and Bacchus. More than debate occurs among some of the citizens of Burnsend, when reports circulate that Arthur Hawkes sold them out for a personal deal with the mining company. Arthur had family issues as well, including a resentful son, Sam (Lewis Reeves), and a 17-year-old daughter, Hannah (Poppy Lee Friar), who was dating the assistant shop steward, Joe Turner (Michael Socha), against Arthur's wishes. And then there's the matter of a certain "side business" with two other miners, Billy Shearer and Panda Whelan (Jack Deam and Dale Meeks).

Sorting through this mess gives Gently more than a few occasions to seriously consider whether perhaps the time has come for him to move on. By the end, he gives Chief Supt. Langham an unambiguous answer.

George Gently, Series 6 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like Series 5, this set of four episodes of George Gently has been encoded at 1080p and spread over two AVC-encoded BD-25s, with two episodes on each disc. Despite my previously expressed concerns about overcompression, the digitally acquired image is consistently excellent: clean, detailed and noiseless, with solid blacks that are essential for the mine sequences in "Gently Going Under". More than any prior series of George Gently, these episodes take the detectives to a varied array of locales containing varying palettes of colors and assorted textures, which the Blu-ray reproduces flawlessly, including the Det. Chief Inspector's new blue car, which attracted much comment in the U.K. (The old gray one was falling apart.) One becomes especially aware of the new car in "Blue for Bluebird", because it's the same shade of blue favored by the Bluebird Holiday Camp.

Unlike previous series of George Gently, where flashback sequences were given a radically different visual style, these episodes use much subtler shifts in palette to denote flashbacks. The cues are provided by the dialogue.

George Gently, Series 6 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

George Gently continues to be offered in stereo, presented here in Acorn Media's now-standard lossless DTS-HD MA 2.0. However, Series 6 offers more opportunities for interesting sound effects than previous seasons. "Blue for Bluebird" offers a full-scale musical performance of "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" by Pixie Lott as Megan Webb. "Gently with Honour" involves a scene on a military training ground with a battle exercise in progress, complete with gunfire and explosions. And "Gently Going Under" has several descents by elevator deep underground, where the sounds of straining seams and grumbling earth constantly seem to threaten a tunnel collapse. Played through a good surround decoder, these effects have surprisingly effective presence. Even in simple stereo, they have good dynamic range and solid impact. Dialogue, as always, remains clear, although some of the miners' accents and slang in "Gently Going Under" may be a challenge for American ears. Optional subtitles are available.

George Gently, Series 6 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• An Interview with Pixie Lott (disc 1) (1080p; 1.78:1; 2:33): Lott is a successful English pop singer who plays the crucial role of Megan in "Blue for Bluebird". Here she discusses her role.



• Behind the Scenes (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 9:09): This featurette was shot on the sets and locations for "Gently with Honour" and includes interviews with Shaw, Ingleby, director Tim Whitby, producer Matthew Bird and actor Oliver Milburn.



• The Making of George Gently (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 6:11): This season overview should not be viewed until after you have seen all of the episodes.



• Photo Gallery (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 2:12): A slide show of production stills from all four episodes.



• 1969 Facts (disc 2): A single screen of text presents relevant historical detail, organized by episode.



• Martin Shaw Interview (disc 2): Two text screens.



• Lee Ingleby Interview (disc 2): Two text screens.



• Lisa McGrillis Interview (disc 2): A single text screen. The newest regular cast member of George Gently, who plays WPC Rachel Coles, deserved more attention.



• Additional Trailers: At startup disc 1 plays trailers for Acorn Media, Falcón and Jack Irish. These can be skipped with the chapter forward button and are not otherwise available once the disc loads.

George Gently, Series 6 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As of this writing, a seventh series of George Gently has not been announced, but that is hardly surprising. Having produced eight episodes in what is, for a British TV series, a relatively short time, the creative team probably needs a respite, and the BBC may want time to decide where the show fits into its future plans. George Gently remains as popular as ever, and the quality of the writing, acting and production is undiminished. This two-disc Blu-ray set from Acorn Media has great sound and video, plus more extras than any set to date. Highly recommended.