User Reviews

Have always adored detective dramas/mystery series. This has been apparent from an early age, half my life even, when getting into Agatha Christie through Joan Hickson's Miss Marple and David Suchet's Poirot and into 'Inspector Morse'.

Whether it's the more complex ones like 'Inspector Morse' (and its prequel series 'Endeavour') and anything Agatha Christie. Whether it's the grittier ones like 'A Touch of Frost' (though that is balanced brilliantly with comedy too) and particularly 'Taggart'. And whether it's the light-hearted ones like 'Murder She Wrote'. 'Rosemary and Thyme' is an example of a light-hearted detective mystery series and always gives me a lot of pleasures and banishes the blues when watching. It is a shame that it didn't last longer because it deserved to.

While not one of my favourite episodes, "A Simple Plot" is still very good. There was no question of the real circumstances of the victim's death and am also another person who was not surprised by the identity of the killer.

Visually, "A Simple Plot" looks wonderful, beautifully photographed, vibrant in colour and as always with the show with a stunning setting, have always been envious of the gardens seen on the show. The music has a lot of charm with a main theme tune that is soothingly folksy that matches the whimsy of the setting appropriately.

The writing is engaging and suitably light-hearted without being frothy. Some of the dialogue for Laura and especially Rosemary is very funny. The story is suitably twisty, with a very suspenseful ending, without being too convoluted, and is entertaining and with a relaxing vibe without being simplistic.

Similarly the characters engage, with Rosemary and Laura already being interesting and distinct in personality, and the chemistry between the two sparkles. Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris are simply great, individually and as a sparkling double act, love Kendal's fire and feistiness and Ferris' more restrained and thoughtful approach. The supporting cast are hard to find fault with too, particularly Michael Siberry.

Overall, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

On their next job, Rosemary introduces Laura to a close friend - a blind professor, who seeks help on his allotment plot. Flowers are dying at random and suspicion is directed at the nearby building site as the cause. Shortly after a meeting with other plot owners in the allotments, the professor dies in what appears to be an accident, until the gardeners discover that someone cleverly used his means of getting around to kill him. As they try to work out who wanted him dead, Rosemary is surprised to learn that the professor left her with a notable fortune in his will...

Allotments, shady deals, dodgy sandwich sellers and a key fetching dog feature in another concoction of mystery and murder - Rosemary and Thyme are up to their usual ways, snooping around for clues. It's an ok entry to a very good series.

The plot thickens when an urban garden is threatened out of existence by a land developer in A SIMPLE PLOT. In this case, the plot is really the pit into which the blind gardener falls. Since he's a man who knew his way around his garden with the help of a trained sight dog and his own skills, it becomes obvious to Laura and Rosemary that they have a murder on their hands.

Things get even scarier when it turns out that several people may have had motives for murdering the blind man. I spotted the real villain of the piece early on, which made the rest of the story a little less suspenseful until the final ten minutes when the suspense is given a boost by a clever ending.

MICHAEL SIBERRY is impressive as a man who seems to have a lot on his mind as the story takes a dangerous turn.