Absolutely brilliant

The first must-see film of the year.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

I am 15 years old and have been watching Bergerac for only a few months. Nevertheless I have given the show a lot of thought and have formulated a few ideas. It is quite entertaining to say the least. There is no episode (that I have seen) that is completely boring, but I'm sure some exist.Its roots definitely exist in Secret Agent starring Patrick McGoohan. The cinematography, the acting, the direction, the writing, and certainly the music. In fact, most of the writers and directors were Secret Agent veterans. However, the writing is still crisp, and the show always has fresh twists that you won't be able to guess.The filming is wonderful. Although the first few seasons are a bit low budget, the scenery of Jersey makes up for this fact. The music, especially the piano and the end music where "John Nettles" is credited is wonderful. I particularly love those ominous or poignant endings which freeze and turn to the creepy music where the credits are given. John Nettles, whom I enjoy watching on Midsomer Murders, is not wonderful in the first few episodes, but he quickly picks up the role. The guest stars are also superb. The scripts, as I mentioned before, are really original. I won't give too much away but be sure to check out episodes like House Guests, S.P.A.R.T.A., Last Chance for a Loser, Campaign of Silence, Fires in the Fall, or Ice Maiden. Previous viewers have commented on the lack of reality due to the high body count. OK, who cares? Do you really think James Bond, Secret Agent, Miami Vice, or even Law and Order maintain reality ALL the time? Absolutely not. But, the show is much more intelligent than most of the TV shows made nowadays or even during the 80s. Although somewhat dated and somewhat poorly produced during the first couple seasons, this show will always be one of my favorites due to its creativity, witty dialogue, and plot.

I really love watching old episodes of this and think it's a shame that UKTV are not showing every episode. I think the first series was great and although the show lost its way a bit for the next few series, it did pick up again in the late 1980s with a few standout shows. I agree with a previous reader that the episode with the mercenary is good, as is the flashback one to WW2, and the one where he goes to London and has a great scene in St paul's cathedral with that Scottish actor who used to be in everything. Also good are the later episodes in France. Strange to see Bergerac's girlfriend from series 1 turning up nearly 20 years later with Sean Bean in Sharpe! Also the production values in the later series were so much higher. All in all great nostalgia and interesting social history of the 1980s, Jim always wakes up with Terry Wogan's breakfast show for example, possibly the only detective to do this. But the fact remains that John Nettles as Jim Bergerac was and is a surprising success story. I like it and so do millions of others but i feel that no one has really ever explained quite why.

BERGERAC certainly has high production values but to have a detective series set on Jersey ( Pop 60, 000 ) where in real life a bike being stolen or a pub brawl makes the front page of the local newspaper seems somewhat silly . Week in week out Jim Bergerac has to deal with jewel heists , drug dealers , murderers , and international terrorists ! . Worse than that each episode seems to have a bigger body count than the average episode of MIAMI VICE . Perhaps the show should have concentrated more on comedic episodes like the one with Norman Wisdom who is mugged on the island and claims he was a servant to the Royal family , only he`s not and the episode revolves around his lie not being found out

Before (and in some cases after) Bergerac BBC dramas were pathetically low budget and often set in over-lit and wobbly studio-sets that were a throwback to a theatre tradition that television needed to take a step, a cinematic step indeed, away from.Bergerac was instrumental in changing that. What makes it take this leap is that every scene is outside broadcast. If the scene is in an office in a police station, then it is filmed in an office. It may seem a small thing, but compare it to other BBC dramas of the time, like Juliet Bravo, and you will see how Bergerac stands the test of time and they fail.John Nettles is superb in the lead role, but as ever, for a series like this to work, it is the supporting actors that make the difference and these are in two categories. Firstly, the regulars who are good and fun, especially Charlie Hungerford, a more subtle and plausible Arthur Daley character, and Barney Crozier, one of the world's most grumpy men, but one who you still are able to have a little time for. Secondly, the guest actors, and these read like a checklist of British dramatic talent, either classic stars making guest appearances (Beryl Reid, Sir Norman Wisdom, Richard Griffiths) or a host of younger actors who were on the cusp of being household names (Ray Winston, Resse Dinsdale, Louise Jameson, Lisa Goddard).A decade is a long time, but the quality of Bergerac never failed throughout its ten years (which almost mirrored Mrs Thatcher's term as PM; it makes the series interesting social history for that golden decade as well as drama). Outstanding.