Been watching this show on Britbox, and it's quite brilliant. First saw Sarah Lancashire on Happy Valley, one of the greatest British drama ever, much much better than that much hyped and overrated Line of Duty. She is younger, sexy & sassy here. This is not as great as H. V. But it's wonderful watching this two great actors Lancashire & P. Davis playing off each other. Wish they'd made lots more seasons of this underrated show.
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raypang29 May 2021
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I've watched and enjoyed the two part season one, great setup between the leads, perfectly matched, something must go bad for this to crap out after three seasons. Season 1 one is a very good not great watch, what you would expect from a pilot with exposition. Great potential, open threads.
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It's a very good show, featuring the unbeatable Sarah Lancashirea and the great Phil Davis; which makes it overcome writing that, despite the premise, is NOT about law, and is thin on criminal plots. Should've gone on longer to develop, but understandable why it didn't.
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redleatherbook3 August 2004Rose and Maloney returned with a series following their continued work with the fictional Criminal Justice Review Agency. The CJRA works like so: someone who believes a miscarriage of justice has occurred may write to the Agency and request a review. The Agency studies the evidence via its caseworkers then decides if it needs further investigation. Consequently, someone who has been wrongly accused of a crime and imprisoned for it, may be freed. Real agencies who do similar work do exist.
The two central characters are Rose and Maloney who met two years ago in the pilot when Rose was disgraced and sent to work with administrative manager Maloney on a time management study - but soon Rose was dragging Maloney into an old case which she solved with his reluctant help.
Rose Linden(Sarah Lancashire) is an inspired, feisty but chaotic investigator/case manager - she's difficult, frequently gets into trouble at work for doing what she wants to do, is single and has one night stands, diabetic, untidy to the point of being a health hazard, drinks and smokes like a chimney. But at work she is utterly committed and passionately believes in finding out the truth.
Maloney(the excellent Phil Davis), two years on, has become a probationary case worker in Rose's care. He is everything she's not - tidy, calculating, analytical, good-natured, thoughtful, considerate and keen to do things by the book. In short, an anti-hero.
The pair have an uneasy relationship. At times Maloney wants to let her take the blame for her own actions, but he also clearly adores her even though she drives him nuts and is deeply loyal to her(much to the jealous disbelief of his colleague Joyce who has a romantic interest in him). Rose has a soft spot for Maloney, does appear to care about him but being the loner, doesn't let him too close.
The main draw of this series is the spiky, often funny interaction between Rose and Maloney who are complete opposites but an engaging double act. Much of this is due to the excellent performances of the two experienced and talented actors, who are so good they could make the patchiest dialogue sound interesting.
This enjoyable series is in 6 parts, covering three cases: Daniel Berrington, Katie Phelan and George Parris. All the stories are believable(aside from elements of Daniel's) and cleverly constructed in such a way that it's not easy to work out who the real culprit is.
All-in-all a lot of fun and worthy of a second series. -
aajaijaji8 February 2022I really enjoy this series. Between you and me, I have watched every British, American, Dutch, Norwegian, Irish, Scottish, German, Spanish, French, South American, and South African mystery, detective, police show available to mankind. I like the softer edge of this show. It's the partnership of two really great actor that makes the show successful.
I'm not sure why it was canceled. But, I for one wish for it to return. Of course, it's probably unrealistic to expect the same actors. It would work as an American show, though. Especially, during this time of extreme misjustice. Maybe it would nudge American officials to create a real Depertment of Criminal Justice Review. -
I stumbled over this series by accident and gave it a chance ! It didn't let me down and I find it excellent and some really good acting which is true in most British detective series. The thing with British series they never go on very long but wow they are so good including "Rose and Maloney " I would recommend it to anyone that wants a good plot and great acting!
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russell-ga6 January 2022Quirky and more unrealistic than most mysteries. (All mysteries are unrealistic to one degree or another.) It's well cast, well acted and fairly entertaining. I particularly liked the lead woman. Great actress.
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ivyhamlin-0853831 July 2021Because I'm running out of British crime shows. They need to make more crime shows! And I quite like this one, hence the 10 stars. Even season 3! I just wish they'd made more episodes.
But the thing I want to say above all is that I just watched the season 3 episodes about Harry Callahan and he's a very attractive and engaging chap! And I knew I'd seen that actor before, so I came here and found him! He was Alan Johnson on Peep Show! So, cheers! -
It appears that the entire writing and production staff left the series after the second season. Up to that point, the stories and the acting were above average. In series 3 it all fell apart. The character of Rose did a complete 180 as a personality, and the scripts were cliched drivel.
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helenderbyshire19 July 2022Only just found this on catch up telly. Absolutely brilliant. Don't why it would get cancelled. Absolutely brilliant and the main 2 are ace together. Let's hope it gets a reboot or more episodes.
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mcjensen-0592421 March 2023Director Metin Huseyin ruined this show in Season 3. It's so horrible it's humorous. The first Season was only 2 episodes, but it set expectations high with good pacing, believable characters and compelling plots. It was absorbing and excellent, from the acting and dialogue right down the line. The same held true through Season 2. Wonderful show, and sadly what happens with so many shows is it begins to unravel and deteriorate as the wrong people get their hands in the creative process and tamper with a proven formula. We see the wheels come off in Season 3, where the characters end up being over the top charicatures of themselves. You will end up despising Rose and Maloney kind of turns into a tool too. She's like a completely different person with a whole new, and rotten, personality. The exaggerated smoking of Rose is as intolerable as her snarky attitude. Rose becomes an arrogant, insufferable fool and for some reason her sympathies and motivations have shifted. Maloney's character is still quite likable at times. But he steps completely out of character too and acts so stupid it's annoying. Like we need to see his love life in action. Supporting cast, which had always been quite strong, also deteriorated into rather silly characters with no depth of emotion or intelligence. A new boss comes in with his go team attitude and a stupid grin you immediately want to smack off his face. We get cheap plot ploys to added to scenes for no reason like people eating/chewing, and it's not necessary and totally gross. Characters saying and doing things that are so beyond the realm of credible all you can do is roll your eyes. There's so much time wasted on their personal lives which aren't really that interesting. Choppy editing from one face to another doesn't work either. It's not fair to lay all the blame on the director on 2nd thought. The writing took a serious decline as well. And completely moronic music has been added, sometimes right over dialogue to the point you can't understand whats.'s being said. It just doesn't work at all and is very distractng from what's happening on screen. You will really notice how bad it is starting Episode 2 of Season 3. Whenever a scene gets mildly interesting, here comesthe droning/tinkling music to wreck it all. I don't understand how things can go so drastically wrong. It's sad, but again, the first 2 Seasons are very impressive. Not perfect, but what is? You could definitely see talented actors who will go on to well deserved fame. Seek out the series Happy Valley to see Sarah L. In full stride. First 2 seasons come in at a strong 8 for me but sadly the last season is rubbish not worthy than more than a 3. They're beyond awful. Cringe. Pathetic. It's like semi-talented people having their first crack at a show. Plots are decent in the last 2 episodes but it's the execution that's rot. First episode of Season 3 was way too ambitious for the ham fisted bunch of imbeciles that are at the helm. Very silly, disappointing ending with the person in prison being helped nothing but an idiot. There's no logic anywhere to be found anywhere in Season 3. Episode 3 is some of the worst TV drama you'll ever see.