Timothy Spall saves the silly, clichéd Death Valley ...Middle East

One of the golden rules of television is that small towns in far-flung places are hotbeds of quirkiness. That cliché is revived enthusiastically in Death Valley, a fun cosy crime series from comedy writer Paul Doolan, set in rural Wales and constantly in danger of being too zany for its own good.

Like an Oasis riff or Tarantino film, it borrows from all over – at the risk of occasionally coming off as an annoying cover version. Gwyneth Keyworth’s eccentric young detective, Janie Mallowan, is a cross between David Mitchell’s nerdy sleuth in Ludwig and Frances McDormand’s homespun detective in the eccentric noir classic Fargo. Her partner-in-crime-solving is played by the great character actor Timothy Spall, seemingly aiming for a gimlet-eyed fusspot with elements of Sir David Suchet’s Poirot and Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote.

Spall is John Chapel, the one-time star of an Inspector Morse-style TV detective show called Caesar, now living in grumpy seclusion in Wales. He is persuaded to throw back the shutters when the slick businessman from across the street is murdered, and DS Mallowan knocks on his door looking for eyewitnesses. Star-struck by a TV legend, she eagerly recruits him as a sidekick and soon, this unlikely pairing is sleuthing for all they are worth.

Wackiness on TV is a bit like marshmallows on your hot chocolate. A little can be delicious – too much, and your taste buds are under attack. Death Valley bumps up against that line repeatedly. The series’ biggest blind spot is that Mallowan is written like a character parachuted from The Fast Show, while everyone else plays it straight. When, for instance, she visits the dead man’s business partner, and he asks if she likes football, she blurts out, “No… hate it,” in an extremely cartoonish way.

square WHAT TO WATCH

I've watched dozens of Channel 5 crime dramas - these are the 11 best

Wouldn’t a real detective play along in the hope of getting on the good side of the suspect? Even if that weren’t the case, the constant swinging from serious to comedic is disorientating. There are hints that Mallowan is recovering from an unspecified trauma – but does that explain her performative rudeness?

Spall does better, but only because he has more to work with as a fading luvvy whose glory days are gone. That said, it’s hard to believe a committed hermit would suddenly transform into a keen crime solver, as happens the moment Mallowan turns up on his doorstep. It feels too neat, moreover, that an actor famous for portraying a detective would himself be a top-rank crime solver. Are we supposed to believe Daniel Craig can really abseil in a tuxedo or that Timothée Chalamet rides giant worms?

Yet, for all those problems, Death Valley trundles along satisfyingly and finds a groove whenever it stops clowning around. The mystery of who killed womanising housing developer Carwyn Rees is nicely convoluted – with his death staged to look like suicide and lots of red herrings further muddying the picture. These include a nosy neighbour caring for her colour-blind granddaughter (a crucial detail, it turns out), a local eco-warrior who passionately objected to the victim’s latest big project, and the personal assistant with whom the mogul has been spending his weekends.

The killer is revealed by the dynamic detective duo in a rewarding conclusion outside the dead man’s new housing development. Only it isn’t one killer but two – and, if their identities are predictable, their plan to kill the property baron and escape with his fortune is well thought through.

Death Valley is built on solid foundations – if only Doolan’s script were less eager to crack wise at every opportunity.

‘Death Valley’ continues next Sunday at 8.15pm on BBC One

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Timothy Spall saves the silly, clichéd Death Valley )

Also on site :

• Russia reliable partner to Africa in strengthening sovereignty – Lavrov
• Ship carrying oil and hazardous cargo sinks off Kerala coast
• Liverpool parade car crash: What happened, and who the victims, suspect are