New Mystery Friday

April 11, 2013 Wisconsin Public Television Leave a Comment

Already a hit on the BBC, Scott & Bailey premieres 9 p.m. Friday, April 12 on Wisconsin Public Television.

Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp as Scott & Bailey

The murder mystery genre has long served Wisconsin Public Audiences well. Poirot, Morse, Wainthropp, Lewis, Watson and Holmes, and Marple are familiar names to most of you.

Over the last few months, we’ve introduced some new names to the murder mystery lineup on WPT. DCI Banks, Miss Fisher, and this Friday, we introduce Scott and Bailey.

They’re billed simply as two ordinary women with an extraordinary job. Which becomes apparent from the start – the very first mystery that all of us armchair detectives get to help solve is the murder, made to resemble a suicide, of a pregnant Turkish girl.

Throughout its 14 episode run, no murderous plot line – from a porn actress turned murderer, to kidnappings and elaborate murders with ties to the past – is too extraordinary for Scott & Bailey.

But recall that these are ordinary women. A Sherlock Holmes or Miss Fisher, entertaining as they are, can appear as fantastic caricatures who seem almost superhuman. Scott and Bailey appear more real beneath the surface.

Detective Constable Rachel Bailey (Suranne Jones, remember her from Doctor Who, Season 6?) is 30, down-to-earth, noisy, argumentative and single – well, she begins the series in a relationship, but I don’t want to divulge any spoilers. DC Janet Scott (Lesley Sharp, Cranford, also Doctor Who), on the other hand, is 40, a diplomat, and wife and mother.

While we get mystery and suspense in watching them deal with serious crime, we also get a dose of real-life drama as they cope with their own complex personal lives. I’d say that’s a perfect mix that will make Scott and Bailey household names to several public television fans.