Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Dalgliesh’ Season 3 On Acorn TV, Where The Poet-Detective Solves Three New Cases

Adam Dalgliesh, the main character in 14 of P.D. James’ mystery novels, was always unique among British mystery detectives because, not only is he a published poet, but he’s also one of the most empathetic detectives ever depicted. He not only doesn’t jump to conclusions with suspects and witnesses, but he gets them to open up through a caring manner and gentle questioning. Over the last three years, Bertie Carvel has portrayed Dalgliesh, and he embodies the cop’s gentle manner.

DALGLIESH SEASON 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A wooded area, where we see a man jogging.

The Gist: It’s March, 1979, and Saint Anselm’s, a theological college, was the subject of controversy. A priest at the college, Father John (Anton Lesser), was accused of sexually assaulting a student, who later took his own life, but the headmaster, Father Sebastian (Richard Lintern), kept him there.

Archdeacon Matthew Crampton (Andrew Havill) is due to show up, and he brings an art history expert, Dr. Emma Lavenham (Claire Goose), with him. The idea is that she’s going to study the provenance of the revered mural behind the church’s altar; selling it will go a long way to modernizing the school. Of course, Father Sebastian and his right-hand man, Father Peregrine (Michael Jenn), are vehemently against it. A lay board member, George Gregory (Lloyd Owen), is also at the meeting.

When the archdeacon winds up dead, found in the church by Dr. Lavenham with Dr. John kneeling over the body. DCI Adam Dalgliesh (Bertie Carvel) is called in, accompanied by his young partner, DS Daniel Tarrant (Alistair Brammer). Tarrant will soon be going through the senior command program, thanks to Dalgliesh’s recommendation.

Father John is quickly eliminated from consideration, but his sister, Agatha Betterton (Phoebe Nicholls), who has taken to drinking a lot since the accusations were leveled against her brother, remains under suspicion. Their adopted son, Raphael Arbuthnot (Charlie Cain), a seminary student, stands to inherit the buildings and land if it no longer operates as a school. Then there is the groundskeeper, Eric Sutrees (Lloyd James) and his sister Karen (Phoebe Sparrow); Karen seemed to be especially keen to talk to the archdeacon, despite saying she never set foot in the church.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Dalgliesh is based on P.D. James’ popular novels featuring detective and poet Adam Dalgliesh; the first mystery of Season 3, “Death In Holy Orders,” is based on James’ 2001 novel. This story was also the basis of a 2003 miniseries. As we mentioned for Season 1, Dalgliesh himself is basically Benedict Cumberbatch’s version of Sherlock Holmes, but with more empathy.

Our Take: At this point in the run of the current Dalgliesh series, created by Helen Edmundson, the character of Adam Dalgliesh, and Carvel’s portrayal of him, is well-established. Dalgliesh is a much more empathetic detective than we usually see, using his insight into people’s psyches, along with the patience of the poet he is, to make witnesses and suspects alike open up.

In fact, the only time we see him show anything other than empathy is when he schools Tarrant, who is still showing signs that the usual police characteristic of jumping to conclusions about people is still apparent. “More experience, more confidence should mean more humility, not less,” he tells Tarrant.

At this point, these brief glimpses into Dalgliesh’s personality are more than enough to keep us connected with him — we also see some insight with his gentle flirtation with Dr. Lavenham. This is just not the kind of mystery series where we’ll get more than tiny droplets of character development. Since we’re now a few years past the death of Dalgliesh’s wife, flirtations like the ones he has with the art expert will likely be the norm. Will they give us more insight into the detective? We’re not sure.

The mystery itself suffers from the same issue we had in Season 1: Too many characters, most of whom are immediately eliminated, and a conclusion that feels rushed and muddled. Edmundson and her writers do a better job of keeping characters relevant throughout the 90-minute, 2-episode mystery, but the mysteries themselves feel like they could be tightened up a bit.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: One of the suspects is pushed down a set of basement stairs.

Sleeper Star: We liked Phoebe Sparrow as Karen Sutrees, not only because she harbors a secret, but she’s got a head of late-’70s rock-n-roll curls that would make Natasha Leone’s Russian Doll character jealous.

Our Call: STREAM IT. We continue to enjoy Dalgliesh because of Bertie Carvel’s grimace-filled empathetic portrayal of Adam Dalgliesh. We just wish we had more info about the detective and somewhat more tightly-written mysteries.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.