Jemima Shore is a popular tv interviewer, one who deals with hot topics and controversial figures, she also finds time for amateur sleuthing.
A twelve part series from ITV, unfortunately it ran for just a single series. ITV viewers would have seen Jemima Shore prior to A Splash of Red, the character appeared in Quiet as a Nun, part of The Armchair Thriller series, only there the character was played by Maria Aitken.
Patricia Hodge of course stars as Jemima, and she is quite wonderful, a great actress and perfect for the part, she is sophisticated, elegant and very beautiful. Expect long and meaningful stares to the camera, stares seen only by Doctor Sam Ryan in Silent Witness, there are perhaps too many of them. Each week Jemima has a new chap, she's like a female Morse.
A series of mysteries, some are whodunnits, but each has suspense and intrigue. All bar one, A Model Murder deal with the middle classes, it's a high brow affair, so expect 80's glamour, lots of tweed, high collars, dinner parties and crystal wine glasses.
I can see from other reviews that the show isn't for everyone, on the whole I really did enjoy it, however there is a big variety in quality, the standout episodes for me were The Damask Collection and The case of The Dancing Duchess, both were excellent, Doctor Ziegler's Casebook was poor and Cha!ber of Horrors was dire.
Expect plenty of well known faces, you'll see Tom Baker, Larry Lamb, Bill Nighy and Constance Cummings, the standout performance for me was Hugh Burden in The Dancing Duchess, that was also my favourite episode.
A shame there was just one series, there was more mileage here.
8/10.
