SCOTT & BAILEY has everything to be special: great acting, sound direction in most episodes, sharp dialogue, but... only the females are intelligent. The males either deceive their spouses and try to kill the lover (Rupert Graves): are very dull, stupid and are rude to in-laws (Adrian, married to Scott); try to wreck Scott's marriage (Nicholas Gleaves); do everything that moves (chief Bullmore's husband); Bailey's brother is an absolute good for nothing who seems to embody the vision that the program has of the male; and the male commits horrible crimes, like Geoff. Women are always the victims in this series, men are there just to make their lives excrutiangly painful.And then there is DCI Murray (played by Bullmore) who has a computer for a brain, a memory to make an elephant green with envy, and knows absolutely everything, plus correctly determines who is guilty at the blink of an eye, and never strays from that God-like omnisapience. The exception is the hubby (the male, of course!) who cheated on her... but in Season 2 she tells Bailey she knew about it all along, so there. Perfection and smarts, woman is thy name!Best avoided, if you're a male. Highly recommended, if you're female.

In season 5 the writers must have decided it was time to establish a firm leftist viewpoint because 5, episode 2 portrayed patriotic Brits as Nazis, a casual comment was made that to continue a pregnancy was a choice and the unborn child could easily be disposed of, made sure to show a lesbian scene. Wow three strokes in one show. Congratulations lefties. And no - not all patriotic Brits are Nazis, no - many people would not even consider aborting their child and who cares about someone's sexual orientation?

There are a number of things that set this series apart from other British crime shows.First, is the bizarre spaghetti western theme music.The next is the way people react realistically to murders and police questioning. They are royally freaked out. Usually people react with the sang froid of James Bond. The acting by unknowns is excellent and convincing.Next are the bad guys you want to personally strangle. They are not just the person who did it for some inscrutable reason. They are EVIL.Next are the many teen actors, usually playing horrible brats.Next is the improper behaviour of the lead detectives, and their squirming not to get caught. It is a Damoclean sword, threatening to cancel the series.There is a very peculiar relationship with a young male policeman with an obsession for an elderly female one. She had a one night stand with him, but she does not want a relationship. I keep thinking his psychotic mood swings are a joke of some kind.The episodes all thread together, with lots of foreshadowing and back references. The episodes of a traditional murder series are totally self contained.There is no whodunit here. Pretty well the first suspect is the guy who did it. The problem is proving it.My main complaint is sometimes there is boring filler dialogue that just wanders off for about 5 minutes at a stretch.

This series looks very appealing,in the tradition of Cagney and Lacey. Unfortunately, I can't understand much of what the characters are saying. I tried to guess by just watching the scenes and trying to infer from what I see but I've given up on understanding what's going on.It is partly the English accents but I don't have a problem,for the most part, understanding Downton or Doc Martin or,actually any of the other English programs.I will tune in now and then to see if I fare better. It's a shame to miss what looks like a good series. At times, the characters seem to be mumbling and slurring words.