Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries: Series 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries: Series 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 16, 2022

Peregrine Fisher (Geraldine Hakewill) may have the same surname as her (arguably justifiably) more famous Aunt Phryne (Essie Davis), but this actually kind of sad knock off of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries may well leave a bitter taste (hopefully not arsenic) in the mouths of fans of both the original television series and perhaps especially the source novels by Kerry Greenwood. While the original series seems to have more or less artfully wrapped up with Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears, evidently some of the creative staff thought they could keep the magic going with this kinda sorta spinoff, which transports things to the supposedly Swinging Sixties, with a previously unknown kinda sorta niece of Miss Fisher inheriting a whole bunch of cool midcentury modern stuff, including a luxe home and bitchin' sports car, from her crime solving aunt, who has conveniently disappeared while on one of her legendary globe trotting adventures. That may beg the question as to just how old Phryne is supposed to be (or was supposed to be, as the case may be), in the time frame of this series, which takes place at least thirty and arguably closer to forty years after the original. The fact that questions like that may occur to some fans of the original series may be as much evidence (no sleuthing pun intended) as is needed to clarify that the "mysteries" in this show are hardly mind boggling, and unfortunately that's just one element that doesn't quite add up.

While Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears admittedly came along a few years after the series itself wrapped, that original series actually ended production circa 2014, which then begs another question, namely how a creative staff that had kept Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries generally amiable and at least occasionally baffling (in a good way vis a vis the mysteries it offered) could have so blundered with this follow up given the time they had to craft it. The sloppiness of the writing in the first episode in particular is completely peculiar, as if everyone decided they needed to just plop this new if arguably unimproved Fisher down in a pre-existing format, with little to no actual tether to the original series. Therefore, there is a veritable glut of supporting characters that just are kind of "there" all of a sudden, including this series' version of Jack Robinson (Nathan Page), a policeman probably cheekily named James Steed (Joel Jackson), in a winking nod to another "mod" sixties detective, John Steed of The Avengers fame.

But really weirdly, Peregrine finds herself ensconced with a not very believable group of "Adventuress" women who are all just like all the other supporting characters in this show plopped in front of the viewer with a line or two of introduction, and absolutely no other attempts to define them, other than allusions to their "achievements", which seem hardly earth shattering in at least a couple of cases. Chief amongst these "adventuresses" is Birdie Birnside (Catherine McClements), who becomes a de facto mentor and quasi-mother figure to Peregrine.

Perhaps the biggest problem afflicting the show is the very concept of Peregrine herself. She's introduced as a kind of ne'er-do-well who has been fired from a series of jobs, and who is kind of shocked to find out that she's the beneficiary of a rather nice inheritance. That's all well and good, but then Peregrine is tasked with "proving" herself to the Adventuress Club, which she does without any problems whatsoever, matriculating with seeming ease into her new role as a private detective. Even that would be all well and good except the series also wants to exploit the idea that Peregrine is kind of a bumbler, not quite on top of her investigative powers yet. It's all very odd, and surprisingly clunky a lot of the time.

It's kind of interesting to compare this sixties set putative sequel with another detective show linked to a famous progenitor, which is also set in this same general time frame. Endeavour is of course a prequel (to the lovingly remembered Inspector Morse), and while that series obviously takes place in and around Oxford and London and Ms. Fisher's Modern Mysteries is set in Melbourne, the two shows take radically different approaches toward production design. Endeavour tends to be almost dowdy at times, while Ms. Fisher's Modern Mysteries exploits and almost carnival like palette that emphasizes bright colors and a lot of the more iconic midcentury "looks" in both fashion and architecture. That at least may provide a bit of visual interest for a series that really should have provided considerably more interest in any number of other categories than it does.

Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries: Series 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries Series 1 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Acorn with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The IMDb unsurprisingly has no real technical data listed for the series, but this is a competent digital capture that has been afforded a competent transfer, all things considered. The imagery is typically quite sharp and well detailed, and the at times rather boisterous palette receives a vibrant accounting through all four episodes contained on the two discs included in this set. As can perhaps be made out in a few of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, there can be a slight dusting of noise in some of the more dimly lit material. This has an admittedly glossy but awfully flat and dimensionless look a lot of the time, and while some scenes actually don't seem to have been green screened, there's a certain artificiality to some of the backgrounds at times.

Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries: Series 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries Series 1 features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix that nicely supports some fun era specific music choices, as well as things like the occasional hand to hand scuffle or even gunfire. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. This is not the most spacious 2.0 track I've ever heard, but it does have some appealing dynamic range. Optional English subtitles are available.

Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries: Series 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The World of Ms. Fisher (HD; 10:35) is a standard issue EPK with scenes from the series and interviews. This sole supplement can be found on Disc Two of this two disc set.

Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries: Series 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While never my favorite "British" (forgive me, Aussies) detective show, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries became an agreeable enough substitute for more favored sleuths like Poirot and/or Miss Marple simply because I had already seen all of the episodes of those shows and wanted some new "period" mystery to watch. I had high hopes for this follow up, but I was pretty seriously disappointed. The cast does what it can (one almost expects Hakewill to throw a cap in the air and affirm she's going to make it after all), but more time needed to be spent developing this show and its format and characters, a fact that's almost comically ironic given that the original series left the air almost a decade ago. At least technical merits are generally solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.