Scott & Bailey is a British crime series that has been called “Cagney & Lacey with Constables.” Set in Manchester, Suranne Jones and Sally Lindsay play police detectives who investigate crimes against women. Box sets of the series are available but they are formatted for the UK. Jeff Meyerson knows how to get DVD players to play UK DVD disks. But, if you don’t want to hassle with that, you can watch the Scott & Bailey episodes on the KPBS web site which offers a streaming service. If you’re in the mood for a gritty police drama with some very intriguing women characters, Scott & Bailey fits the bill. You can read the New York Times take on Scott & Bailey here.
Yeah, the Times review certainly piqued my interest and I know Jackie will want to check this one out. I’m surprised other PBS stations around the country (like Channel 21 here, which is showing such British fare as PIE IN THE SKY, DEATH IN PARADISE and INSPECTOR GEORGE GENTLY) haven’t picked up on it yet.
Jeff, these SCOTT & BAILEY episodes are more gritty than the usual PBS fare.
Just checked and amazon.uk has a boxed set of series 1 and 2 for 11.75 pounds so I think it’ll be easier for us to just get it sent from there.
I see some episodes are available on youtube too.
Other PBS stations around the country Have picked it up…it’s just that it was just offered by BBC Worldwide Americas for the first time in the last few months. You’ll be seeing it roll out on other stations (including independent public stations, such as KCET Los Angeles or KCSM San Mateo/San Francisco) as they get around to it. WLIW 21 is a very likely candidate indeed in the NYC/Long Island area.
Many if not most DVD players are set up for all-regions play by default, others with a simple “hack”…and if you watch DVDs on your computer…well…
We had a lot of British shows we wanted to get, Todd, so before we bought the DVD player my wife checked online and found one that had a reviewer who gave detailed instructions on converting from Region 1 to all-regions. You’re right, it was simple, a matter of changing the ‘1’ to a ‘0’ but I don’t recall exactly how at this point. Just Google something like “all-region dvd player” and the link to amazon is in there somewhere.
I’m sure WLIW-21 will get it, then. They are much better than Channel 13 at going beyond the usual “Masterpiece” selections.
Also, Jeff, if your cable company gives you any access to the New Jersey Network stations, which the WNET/WLIW behemoth now manage as well, they if anything are even more likely to show the series (and other BBC WA imports). Meanwhile, George, WNED in Buffalo is more likely than not to eventually run the series, since TV Ontario isn’t, currently.
Todd, I’m going to give WNED a call today and see if they have any plans on running SCOTT & BAILEY.
We do get the New Jersey network on channel 165 (TWC). They have a lot of the same shows as Ch. 21 but some others as well. For instance, they have Rosemary & Thyme (too sappy for my taste), Midsomer Murders & Foyle’s War on Saturday nights.
“Gritty”. So these stories take place at the beach? Brighton, perhaps? But you said Manchester. Is Manchester on the coast? Or maybe there’s a gravel quarry… Yep, I’ve about done with that particular term, which really doesn’t seem to have any specific meaning other than, perhaps, uncomfortable.
Oaky, sorry. Though I watch hardly any television (Travels to the Edge with photographer Art Wolfe is one of the few), an occasional show sounds interesting. This one seems like it would be pretty moralistic, with women cops investigating crimes against women.
This is a show certainly welll worth seeking out – written, produced and mostly directed by women, this is a lot tougher and uncompromising than CAGNEY AND LACEY as you would expect with the passage of time – the three leads are outstanding, especially, Amelia Bullmore as the boss (she also writes some of the scripts too, while Suranne Jones not onle c0stars and co-produces but also co-created it too).
Sergio, I agree with your description of SCOTT & BAILEY. Although Rick doesn’t like the word “gritty” the word fits this series. But distribution of SCOTT & BAILEY is spotty in the U.S.