Inspector Montalbano

[Paddypix]

Someone at the meet (WM I think) mentioned this programme and said it was good. BBC4 are showing the first ever episode tonight so I've set it to tape. It didn't offer series record, so I'm not sure if they're showing the whole series.

[Kaz]

Oh bum we are out!!! Might look it up on iplayer though

[Ally]

Montalbano - I'm sure they sell that in the wine aisle in Mercadona.

[TheOstrich]

Montalbano is a very good antidote to the Swedish-noir detective series like Wallander and The Killing! You'll enjoy it if you think of it as a light comedy rather than a gritty thriller. It's not exactly Midsomer Murders, but it's closer to that than Morse.

It is indeed the first ever episode tonight (it was first shown in the UK in 2012), and there are 26 of them in total. I'd say the later episodes were probably better than the earlier ones.

Luca Zingaretti (the slightly maverick Montelbano) is an excellent actor and an Italian heartthrob. Watch out for Catarella, the overweight, bumbling station officer, the foppish detective "Mimi" Augello, and Pasquano, the implacably irritable coroner.

As for Vigata, the fictional location, the series was filmed in the south Sicilian towns of Ragusa and Punta Secca, and the scenery is stunning. Apparently tourism has boomed in those areas

Mrs O and I have seen the lot, and have thoroghly enjoyed them. Perhaps not everyone's cuppa tea, but once you get into them, and take them as they come, it's an undemanding, entertaining 90 mins / 2 hours worth of Saturday night TV.

[Workingman]

It was me, Liz, and Ossie has described it perfectly as a couple of hours of undemanding entertainment. It is not quite slapstick, but there are times when if comes close.

I hope you find it enjoyable as an easy-going detective "mystery".

[Paddypix]

I'll give it a go. I still have the final Wallander on tape but I'm saving it because I don't want it to end. Same with the US version of House of Cards. I ration the episodes to one every couple of days because I love it so much that I don't want to get to the last one too soon.

[Workingman]

Aha! That reminds me. I have to set up my TalkTalk box properly so that I can use the record function. I have all the bits and pieces, just not the motivation to get round to moving furniture and doing a bit of a clean up.

[Ally]

I like the sound of this - I shall record it and watch it at a later date.

[Kaz]

It sounds right up our street, had forgotten about this since posting last, but will definitely have to find it either on iplayer or Netflix or somewhere

[Kaz]

Oh Mick just came into the room, dogs in tow from their walk, I asked if he'd heard of this and said he's caught an episode before and it was good! Nice of him to tell me