Very well executed

Must See Movie...

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

In the modern era of television, over the last ten or so years, there has been so little worth watching. The BBC still produces the odd rare gem, and this was one of them. A slightly wry look at the murder mystery with the stories told in a variety of narratives and a variety of perspectives from the straightforward to the outright wacky this is a wonderful little series that briefly shone for 3 series and left at just about the right time. The episodes are uniformly good.Especially notable is the episode "Contract" with Adam Faith in as a contract killer in one of his last TV roles with Jamie Theakston putting in a surprisingly good performance as a Yuppie Banker.

Murder in Mind is a crime/thriller one hour BBC TV series that is like no other program. Instead of it being like a Murder in Suburbia for BBC 1, it is very different. In each episode, we are given a different story, with completely different characters all linked to a murder. But the uniqueness is that the perspective is followed from the murderer's perspective. As well as terrific story lines, it also features a host of completely different actors, some well known and others still in the making who all shine in their roles. Some of these actors include: Pauline Quirk, Timothy West, Ian Kelsey, Camilla Power, Diana Rigg, David Suchet, Reese Dinsdale and many, many others. Some murders will be planned, others will be accidents, some will be brutal, others will be clean. For my birthday at the end of August, I received the box set of all three series and was glued to several of all the episodes. But overall series one would be my favourite. All the episodes are cleverly written, partly due to the clever text from writers such as Gregory Evans and Guy Burt (Who also wrote 'After the Hole' in 1993, which was later translated into the British Thriller 'The Hole'). Going back to series 1, the ideas were all original but also strongly related to the title, where as series 2, very good by not as good, drifted away and series 3 just sailed into the unknown. Apart from the one or two episodes – Diana Rigg's in particular. I feel this is the reason for its cancellation back in 2003. It would have been nice for the show to continue, but extremely hard to find good ideas for plots. Perhaps if the BBC paid bestselling writers such as Ruth Rendell, Lynda La Plante and Sean French to help with the scripts the story lines maybe better for a fourth series. To be honest, I'm not sure what else to say other than if you manage to catch a rerun of the episodes on UK Gold or another Sky Channel do watch it! They are really worth seeing a perhaps my favourite TV series of all time. Those readers who'd like some episodes references please read on, those who don't – keep yours eyes open for replays. My top 6 favourite episodes would have to be, in order: 1. Mercy. Dr. William Collins, is arrested for euthanasia – he helped his wife, Margaret , who had been recently diagnosed with Encephalitis Lethargica. Pending his trial, he recalls the painful story which lead to his wife's decision to end her life, before turning a corner into a more dark, sinister and clandestine story … Starring Timothy West, Judy Parfitt, John Gordon-Sinclair and Veronica Lang. 2. Motive. One Saturday night, Michael Davis randomly comes up with the idea of murdering the babysitter; forcing his wife, Barbara, into the situation – the two commit the perfect murder. But why on earth would they do such a thing?? Starring Susannah Harker, Reese Dinsdale and David Ross. 3. Passion. Jane Saunders is a lonely spinster in charge of a telephone operating department, but secretly obsessed with her married boss. Believing his is having an affair with one of her employees, she sets out to finish the affair – once and for all. Starring Pauline Quirk, Lucy Davis, Mark Womack and Angela Ridgeon. 4. Suicide. Jill Craig, a 60 something year old woman, is found dead in her house one morning believed to have committing suicide. However, evidence found in the house suspects the police to believe she was actually murdered and subsequently arrest her handyman, Scott Brody. But then in flashbacks, we learn the truth … Starring Diana Rigg, John Bowe, Nick Reding, Liz May Brice and Steve Toussaint. 5. Victim. A serial killer is preying on young woman walking alone at night in London. Lucy is very superstitious over the whole situation and keeps a diary of all the victim's, her flat mate, Emily, thinks she's crazy but has second doubts when they soon realise they're eccentric landlord, who 'hates meeting people' is out whenever the killer strikes ... are they living with a psychotic, knife wielding murderer ?? Starring Camilla Power, Neil Stuke, Frances Grey and Lachele Carl. 6. Sleeper. A young student, suffering with chronic sleepwalking, awakens one morning to find a blood covered weapon beside her bed. Did she murder her cheating boyfriend?? Starring Keeley Hawes and Nitin Chandra Ganatra.

Having been a fan since the start of this series, it's always interesting to see who the next victim is. Those who are unaware, the actors / actresses of these 'Murder In Mind' shows are in fact famous TV Actors past and present.One show I remember in particular was Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell is Eastenders) playing the Husband of a cheating Wife. He hired himself a guy (Keith Allen - comedian / 'Fat Les' front man) to kill her but with a twist that made himself the murderer. How? Well thats the cleverness of the story / plot. The 'hit man' had a name that when the letters were re-arrange, spelled out the Husband's actual name... and when confronted ... the hitman never existed. Cool or what? More to the point, it was nice seeing 'Rodney Trotter' playing a devious landlord. Shows the actors true potential and also shows they can cope with any role and be convincing. I certainly was, because I was gob smacked at the end. As I was after every Murder In Mind show.

Murder in Mind is an excellent drama that can be seen on BBCAmerica. If you enjoy shows like CSI or Law & Order, then Murder in Mind is for you. I have yet to see a comedic, dark or otherwise, episode. This is an excellent show, well-written and usually has a good twist. While watching BBCAmerica, be sure to check out _Waking The Dead_ as well.