Scott & Bailey - General Discussion

[daisycat]

Good lord, Lesley Sharp is striking. I’m absolutely fascinated with her face, her expressions, and her effortless grace.

Topic: nearly done with series 4 and trying to slow down my viewing because I know s5 is only 3 eps. 😫

Currently bedridden with a broken neck until end of November; I’m looking forward to checking out the recommendations for other shows mentioned earlier upthread. Please let me know any other shows I can dig into to pass the time!

[Llywela]

1 hour ago, daisycat said:

Good lord, Lesley Sharp is striking. I’m absolutely fascinated with her face, her expressions, and her effortless grace.

Topic: nearly done with series 4 and trying to slow down my viewing because I know s5 is only 3 eps. 😫

Currently bedridden with a broken neck until end of November; I’m looking forward to checking out the recommendations for other shows mentioned earlier upthread. Please let me know any other shows I can dig into to pass the time!

Ouch! Get well soon!

If you like Suranne Jones as Rachel Bailey and enjoy historical dramas, maybe check out Gentleman Jack? Amelia Bullmore (Godzilla!) is also in it. And if you like female-led cop drama, you could try Happy Valley.

What do all these programmes have in common? That's right, writer Sally Wainwright! Who also created Last Tango in Halifax, which is also well worth checking out.

[daisycat]

1 hour ago, Llywela said:

Ouch! Get well soon!

If you like Suranne Jones as Rachel Bailey and enjoy historical dramas, maybe check out Gentleman Jack? Amelia Bullmore (Godzilla!) is also in it. And if you like female-led cop drama, you could try Happy Valley.

What do all these programmes have in common? That's right, writer Sally Wainwright! Who also created Last Tango in Halifax, which is also well worth checking out.

Lol - already cruised through every single show you mentioned - Sally Wainwright is a genius, although the later seasons of LTiH were subpar.

I maintain that there are about 2 dozen British actors and they are all in absolutely everything (mainly because they’re all so good!).

[Llywela]

8 hours ago, daisycat said:

Lol - already cruised through every single show you mentioned - Sally Wainwright is a genius, although the later seasons of LTiH were subpar.

I maintain that there are about 2 dozen British actors and they are all in absolutely everything (mainly because they’re all so good!).

LOL I wondered if that might be the case!

(Also, yes, can confirm: every British TV show is a never-ending exercise in 'hey, it's that guy')

...maybe if you get really desperate, you could start working through all the shows on this forum, alphabetically... 😄

[daisycat]

21 hours ago, Llywela said:

LOL I wondered if that might be the case!

(Also, yes, can confirm: every British TV show is a never-ending exercise in 'hey, it's that guy')

...maybe if you get really desperate, you could start working through all the shows on this forum, alphabetically... 😄

I am desperate, in fact, and I may do as you suggest. “Hinterland” I watched one episode, and it was very dark (despite the gorgeous scenery!) and “Moone Man” a little too screwball. I *loved* “Shetland”, if you haven’t seen it. 

[John Potts]

Just got to the end of S1 in re-runs and - Wow, I never realised quite what an asshole Rachel's ex Nick was. OK, he's a Criminal Barrister so he's always going to be something of an antagonist to our heroines (and I'm with Janet here on the likelihood of meeting him in court - there are only so many criminal cases, it was bound to happen eventually) and dumping her in the first episode is scarcely going to endear us to him, but for him to (Spoilers for the end of S1):

Spoiler

Propose to her to prevent her from testifying against him and then put out a hit on her

...is taking a bad break up a bit far! Obviously we knew that Rachel's using a police database to track his car was going to come back to bite her, but obviously it wasn't going to be the career destroying infraction it should have been (given we know there are more episodes after this).

[nara]

Late to the party with this show but glad someone good came from COVID-19.

Love this show, especially Janet and Gill. I appreciate Janet’s interview methods and I think I can apply them in my own work.  I hated how she repeatedly gave up chances for promotion, but that is very realistic unfortunately.  I appreciate how Gill did not hesitate to hold people accountable, but was also genuinely interested in them.

Rachel is insufferable IMO, and I think Nick was right about her drinking and hygiene. However, she does have a charm about her too, mostly from her competence. She is dreadfully immature, though, and I laughed at her outrage at the ribbing she received as a new Sergeant. She wasn’t exactly respectful to Rob when he joined the team. She did get a personality transplant before season 5, so that was helpful.

speaking of Rob, I wish they had developed him more. I do think the show portrays almost all men and idiots or jerks, and Rob and Sean were few exceptions. I liked Andy was disappointed when he went south. He and Janet had great chemistry, which isn’t always true with real-life couples. It is realistic though that some men refuse to take no for an answer, and allow it to interfere with professional relationships. I would have liked to see Kevin mature in his personality and some of the others in their capability, even if the leads remained the strongest detectives.

[TaraS1]

I just burned my way through all five seasons in about a week and I think I can officially say this show is right up there behind Vera as my favorite British cop show that I've watched during quarantine - and I have watched a lot of British cop shows during quarantine lol

At first, I thought Rachel was easily going to be my favorite character because I usually love the young, tough upstart who is good at their job but a mess in their personal life (Abby was my favorite on ER, for instance), and Suranne Jones reminds me of my beloved Michelle Dockery.  But I actually ended up fangirling over Janet and Gill even more than Rachel.  I could listen to Lesley Sharp and Amelia Bullmore just talk for an entire episode.  Plus all the supporting players were fantastic.  Pete, Lee, poor Mitch, our Alison...loved them all!

I thought S5 was a pretty big letdown because neither the crime nor the personal drama worked well, but it still didn't take away from my love for the show as a whole.   

[SunnyBeBe]

Man, I’m really late to this series. So glad that I discovered it.  I’m in the mid point now on a marathon.  I wish I had known about it earlier.  

[SunnyBeBe]

I’d like to read more about the writers of this series.  I think it’s pretty crappy of the writers to tarnish the reputation and judgment of the character Gill, so the long term boozy Rachel can come out smelling like a rose.  That’s pretty low and ends season 4 at a very low point for me.  What is it with the writers and their love affair with the character Rachel?  It’s pretty obvious she has narcissist personality disorder in addition to being a severe alcoholic.  Poor Janet will never learn.   Ughhh....So, only three episodes to go.   
 

Does anyone know why the got rid of the actor Nicholas Gleason, who is married to actor who plays Janet in real like?  I thought he was a great actor.  They wrote him as being unstable so he had to leave.  

[Ris]

Late but in love.

What a series. 

[LisaM]

Late to the party....In the middle of Season 2. Love it so far. I think that Gill is my favorite. 

[Emily Thrace]

On 4/13/2016 at 5:52 PM, John Potts said:

I  felt something was missing from this latest episode. I was surprised that Janet was quite so forgiving of Rachel for not keeping in touch, though that may just be because she knows her. Did like the way everyone else was unsure how to treat Rachel - "Good ole Rache" or "Gill Mark 2".

 

The Dark Web... not sure that's actually a good subject for the series. What I've always found appealing about Scott & Bailey is how grounded in the real world it was, but we're onto our second (well, second and third, if our heroes are right) serial killer in Manchester, which I'm pretty sure is WAY more than there really are in the UK as a whole, let alone on Manchester. 

Actually serial killers are more common than most people think. The FBI estimates there are 30- 50 active in the US at any given time. With UK having roughly 1/5 the population that would put them at 6-10 at any given time. Since Manchester is the second largest urban population in the country it would have a slightly larger share of that number. So 2-3 would actually be about bang on statistically(not including the Bevans in that number because they hadn't been active for decades). Its a bit of stretch that they are getting caught but better forensics and surveillance has helped a lot in that respect. Its actually another mark of accuracy for Scott and Bailey.

[John Potts]

2 hours ago, Emily Thrace said:

Actually serial killers are more common than most people think. The FBI estimates there are 30- 50 active in the US at any given time. With UK having roughly 1/5 the population that would put them at 6-10 at any given time. Since Manchester is the second largest urban population in the country it would have a slightly larger share of that number.

The last convicted serial killer in the UK (as opposed to spree killers or terrorist attacks) was Peter Sutcliffe, convicted in 2007, and he made national news at the time (Fred & Rose West, the inspiration for the Bevans, were convicted in 1995). There are estimates that there are 2/3 currently operating across the UK, so for Manchester (UK's 4th city, after London, Birmingham and Glasgow*) to have all of them is pretty implausible.

That said, all cop shows have murder be way more common (and more diabolical - most aren't committed by criminal geniuses and are solved fairly quickly) than it is IRL, so I'll give it a pass for drama, but it is far higher than reality.

* Though if you extend it to the whole Metropolitan area (which the MIT probably covers) Greater Manchester with its 2.8m people is 3rd, ahead of Glasgow.

[Llywela]

I mean, statistically speaking, the vast majority of the UK's improbably large population of serial killers are, in fact, based in the fictional county of Midsomer, obviously. 😄

But more seriously, TV takes dramatic licence, that's just the nature of the industry. Murders and serial killings are a staple of police dramas because they offer plenty of exciting, dramatic storytelling potential. It's a standard trope of the genre. It isn't supposed to be an exact mirror to real life.

ETA - there have been serial killers arrested and convicted in the UK since Peter Sutcliffe, for the record, they've just not been as high profile. Levi Bellfield is one that springs to mind, convicted in 2008 (and again in 2011 and still confessing to other crimes as recently as this year).

Edited February 28, 2022 by Llywela

[Ceindreadh]

13 hours ago, John Potts said:

The last convicted serial killer in the UK (as opposed to spree killers or terrorist attacks) was Peter Sutcliffe, convicted in 2007, and he made national news at the time (Fred & Rose West, the inspiration for the Bevans, were convicted in 1995). There are estimates that there are 2/3 currently operating across the UK, so for Manchester (UK's 4th city, after London, Birmingham and Glasgow*) to have all of them is pretty implausible.

That said, all cop shows have murder be way more common (and more diabolical - most aren't committed by criminal geniuses and are solved fairly quickly) than it is IRL, so I'll give it a pass for drama, but it is far higher than reality.

* Though if you extend it to the whole Metropolitan area (which the MIT probably covers) Greater Manchester with its 2.8m people is 3rd, ahead of Glasgow.

Peter Sutcliffe (the Yorkshire ripper) was convicted in 1981. 

You may be thinking of Steve Wright (the Ipswich ripper) convicted in 2008

[John Potts]

Sorry, not sure how I got those confused. But there aren't that many Serial Killers (at least, not ones that have been discovered) in the UK and when they do appear, they make national news. Though the "Well, they were gay so who cares?" attitude that Rachel found in the old reports is sadly believable, though you'd hope (possibly naively) it's less prevalent today.

[LisaM]

Finally finished the 3-episode last season. Loved this show from start to finish. My favorite character was Gill, so I was sorry that she was not in the final season - which suffered as a result. Rachel and Janet were a great team - and all of the supporting cast fit perfectly.