Good detective tv series are hard to come by, but as luck would have it, I stumbled upon the BBC series C.B. Strike on HBO (C.B. Strike (TV Series 2017– ) - IMDb). I'm a Columbo and Mike Hammer fan from before, and the recent Sherlock series with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman caught my interest as well. My criteria for 'good' are several: I have to be drawn into the plot almost immediately; the detective(s) have to have some appealing qualities--they can be gruff or rude at times, but at heart be decent people; the story has to make sense and to have a reasonable conclusion. C.B. Strike fits the bill. Tom Burke plays private eye Strike with a certain gravitas; Strike doesn't laugh too much, he's not silly or a caricature of a private eye. He's served his country militarily and come back from the Afghanistan war as an amputee--missing part of his leg after an explosion. He worked as a military policeman in the British Special Investigation Branch until he left to become a private detective. He ends up taking on a parter, Robin Ellacott, played by Holliday Grainger. There is undeniable chemistry between Strike and Ellacott, but their personal lives are complicated and they don't pursue their attraction to each other. I find myself thinking about The X-Files and how the series kept us waiting for Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to get together; it was part of the attraction of the series for many years. Interestingly, once they did get together, some of the excitement of the series was diminished. Both Burke and Grainger are superb in their roles; at this point, Tom Burke is Strike because he plays him so well. It's like the character was written specifically for him.
C.B. Strike is based on the novels by Robert Galbraith (the pseudonym for J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame). Rowling is a very good writer who knows how to invent good plots, weave excitement into them, and keep us on the edge of our seats waiting for resolution. I've read all the Harry Potter books; most of them are very long, but Rowling's dramatic pacing is such that the pages fly by. I haven't read the Strike books, but I imagine they are very much the same. So it's been enjoyable so far to watch the tv series--good entertainment, very good stories, and very good actors. You can't ask for much more. I should also add that the opening graphics and title song are also excellent; the song 'I Walk Beside You' is sung by Beth Rowley and was written by Adrian Johnston and Crispin Letts. As always, I like to include the lyrics to songs I like; here they are:
I Walk Beside You
Me and you
Somehow we made it through
I may be gone
I may be far away
But I walk beside you
Every step of the way
When you're used
Bruised
Black and blued
I'll think about it
Never doubt it
I'll walk beside you
