Reviews

This is a new series that unfortunately is let down by poor acting and made up storylines. The main character Jack Grayling (Shane Ward) is the cruise ship singer but also an ex policeman. His acting Is mediocre and he is just unbelievable as a supposed ex-policeman. His singing is also just alright but unlikely to fill any concert hall or theatre. The supporting cast have little to do, with the exception of Catherine Tyldesley, who assists Jack with all his enquires and actually seems cleverer than Jack. The series could have been a lot better with more complex story lines and whilst the scenes from holiday destinations are attractive to look at, they do little to improve the series.

Far better than the earlier incarnation of Van Der Walk, the story lines are excellent and entertaining.

The Actors are all first rate, particularly Marc Warren and Maimie McCoy, who also worked together in the latest version of the Three Musketeers.

Plot lines are well created to fill up nearly 1.5 hours per episode and to hold viewers' interest all through.

Locations in and around Amsterdam provide lots of opportunity to recognise both famous and interesting locales.

I can only Hope that this will not be the last of Van Der Valk, it would be great to have more episodes. I'm sure that Nicolas Freeling's archive will have many more VDW stories.

The film (mini-series) ia very creditable attempt to capture the essence of Clavell's masterful book. John Rhys-Davies is the epitomy of Quillan Gornt and Pierce Brosnan doesn't do too badly either, but I can't imagine why he would fall for Deborah Raffin as K C Cholok who is bland, colourless and does not come across as a tough-negotiating business woman. The film sticks closely to the book and only omits non-central to the story items - russian spies etc. Nancy Kwan is still gorgeous and Julia Nickson is lovely (pity her acting lets her down though). The film is well worth a look even with a few failings.