TV: Hamish MacBeth

[mehastings]

OK, my husband is not much of a reader, but he seems to enjoy the Hamish MacBeth mysteries by M.C. Beaton. I have just learned that there is a television show airing in the UK, some of which is available on DVD.

It isn't available on TV here, so I'm relying on you folks in the UK to help me out here. Is it worth buying on DVD? He collects a few series on DVD already (MASH, Family Guy) so I thought this would be an interesting series for him to add. What do you think? The cost is $25 (about £12) and shipping is free, so I'd consider it pretty cheap.

 

[Shade]

It's not on TV here any more, mehastings, it was about 10 years ago (at a guess). I never watched it but it became hugely popular, one of the highest rated series around at the time. From my limited knowledge it was regarded as "wholesome" and "heartwarming" TV by people who like that kind of thing... even though the central character smoked cannabis (shock horror!). Oddly enough it seems to have disappeared from the public consciousness since the show ended, and doesn't get reruns or anything like that. I didn't know it was out on DVD.

EDIT: Looking online I see there were three series (seasons) of shows, all of which are available on DVD. Here's an Amazon editorial review:

Hamish Macbeth may technically be a British mystery series, but the quirky BBC show, set in Scotland, is more Local Hero meets Northern Exposure than Miss Marple, as series 2 shows. The residents of tiny Lochdubh, Scotland, are an eccentric bunch, and actor Robert Carlyle, for better or worse, is the town's sole lawman/sheriff. Carlyle is in prime deadpan form in the role of Hamish Macbeth, who presides over the crimes and just plain weird happenings of the burgh. The series, based on characters created by M.C. Beaton, doesn't always even seem to feature a mystery, until the final moments of an episode, as in "A Perfectly Simple Explanation." The episode features slightly manic members of a fundamentalist sect, the Church of the Stony Path, and Hamish comes under their fire-and-brimstone curses for living out of wedlock with his insecure girlfriend, Alex. Then there's the new age cult leader who conducts his conversations on a particularly sloshy waterbed. The oddball characters come and go, and somewhere, woven around their interactions, is a plot that becomes strangely satisfying by an episode's finale, but which is not at all the reason for watching. The steadfast but affectionate take on the residents' quirkiness is compulsively addictive, and Carlyle proves again what a talented, multifaceted actor he is. As the blustery minister shrieks at Macbeth about the sin and wantonness of his town, Carlyle never lets Macbeth show he's ruffled. "If the Lord thinks so much of you," he says, when the reverend pauses to catch his breath, "then why is He lettin' me dog wee on your leg?" Visit Lochdubh and you'll likely never want to leave.

I also see from Wikipedia that I was about right in the timing of the show (1995-97).

 

[Litany]

It did get a rerun on UKGold or one of its clones. Mebbe a year or two ago. I watched it first time round and it was fairly entertaining, not sure I'd describe it as heartwarming though. That sort of thing normally makes me feel a bit queasy. Not read the books so I don't know if it at all resembles them.

Can't remember a single episode, but I know I used to watch it every week and enjoy it. Maybe watching people getting stoned destroys the memory too.