Vexed

Agree with the others who rate the first season way higher than the second. Love Lucy Punch's quirkiness. Her replacement is a snooze, and brings down the whole show. Enjoy the first, all-too-short, season, and then search for something else.

A fun and quirky British detective show. The main character was an absolute goof, and the main characters had good chemistry and good banter across both seasons.

This is odd little police procedural from Britain. DI Jack Armstrong (Toby Stephens) is a Neanderthal misogynist.

The first series had 3 episodes where Armstrong is teamed with DI Kate Bishop (Lucy Punch). She's neurotic, witty, and sometimes violent. They are not Sherlock by any means, but they get the job done. It's their relationship that's the most fun. Something about Lucy Punch makes her adorable even when she's crazy.

The second series had 6 episodes and a new partner for Armstrong. Bishop is replaced with DI Georgina Dixon (Miranda Raison). She's a bland character and just doesn't have the witty exchanges like Lucy Punch. I could barely finish watching the first episode. The cases are still forgettable, and without the energetic Punch, this show becomes an unfunny bore.

It is always very tempting to write a comedy drama off if the laughter factor is low from the start. It is a dangerous thing to do so so early - I only have to point to the Blackadder First Series and the first two series of Only Fools and Horses and say actually they weren't that funny to be honest.

With the pedigree of the writer of Misfits and the Producer of Little Britain I expect this series to develop positively. The first episode went along at a lightening pace and I have to say it sucked me in. The jokes hit my spot. The idea of building a comedy around a loyalty card stalker is a nice one - and there were plenty of one liners to please. Not everything came off - no "pussy cat" jokes again please - they went out with Mrs Slocombe in Are You Being Served.

OK it is not easy to replace the very excellent Sherlock but no comparison should be made. I'll be tuning in hoping to see this one progress. Toby Stephens and Lucy Punch were a delight but they carry the whole show on their own. Deepen the involvement of secondary characters and we might see this improve.

"Vexed" was a promising series that ran for two seasons in England. It starred Toby Stephens and Lucy Punch in the first season and Stephens and Miranda Raison in the second. It's a derivative series, about plainclothes detectives solving murders. One nice non-derivative thing is there's no romance. Stephens' first partner is married, and his second barely puts up with him. So there is a lot of repartee.

The first three episodes were outrageously written, with someone looking at an apartment as a possible rental after stepping over the dead body in the room. In the second season, there were still some great moments but it was toned down.

In part, this was because Lucy Punch left the show and was replaced by Miranda Raison. Punch is a more interesting type than Raison, who is certainly beautiful and a fine actress. Punch is more comedic, with long blond hair of no particular style, a tall frame that is normally informally dressed, and a unique speaking voice. She and Stephens were a scream together.

Also, Punch's character had a more interesting private life than Raison's. Convinced at one point that her husband is cheating on her, she reacts in a way that sends him to the hospital and puts him on crutches.

The Stephens character is a sort of overblown DeNozzo from NCIS - he only thinks of sex, swaggers around, is a misogynist, and it all hides a lot of hurt. And some of his comments are too much. When he suspects a woman's late husband might be gay, he asks her, "Did he have a particularly strong reaction when Princess Diana died?"

I've read some complaints on this board about Stephens. I think he is very good and handles the comedy well. I have seen him do other things, and he is a wonderful and versatile actor. How bad can the son of Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens be, after all? He is a successful stage actor as well as a film and TV actor. And he's handsome to boot.

I enjoyed both seasons, though I know a lot of people were disappointed in season 2. Season 1 was edgy and funnier; season 2 was a little calmer, but still good.