You might be forgiven for thinking Ridley<\/a> is just a series of Ted Hastings\u2019s retirement capers, but believe it or not, it\u2019s a fully-fledged four-parter with mysteries, drama and err, soft jazz performances. <\/span><\/p>\n Starring Adrian Dunbar as the eponymous lead, we meet our brooding hero just 18 months after losing his wife and daughter to a brutal arson attack. The former detective is forced to leave the police on medical grounds when he struggles to come to terms with what happened to him and his family.<\/span><\/p>\n Each two-hour episode investigates a different crime, with the central theme of Ridley\u2019s grief running throughout. It\u2019s Vera in tone, with Ridley filling in for the beloved Geordie cop this time around. And like it\u2019s northern counterpart, it\u2019s filmed in a countryside setting, though this time it\u2019s Yorkshire, not Northumberland (equally as stunning, however).<\/span><\/p> The mystery in episode 1 is centred around a father who\u2019s been gunned down in a very quiet part of town. Ridley is called back to the investigation when someone he\u2019s very familiar with is drawn into the suspect list. The police need his help, and Ridley\u2019s all too keen to offer it. <\/span><\/p>\n Without giving too much away, you\u2019ll probably guess what\u2019s going on about half way through. It\u2019s not quite as complex as Line of Duty or other big blockbuster thrillers, but it doesn\u2019t need to be either. It\u2019s satisfying getting to the end, which is surprisingly really<\/em> harrowing, given the overall gentler tone of the series.<\/span><\/p>\n All eyes will undoubtedly be on Dunbar though. It\u2019s impossible to see him in a crime series without comparing him to Line of Duty\u2019s Hastings, so here goes. Ridley\u2019s more brooding, more internal and generally more rounded as a character than Hastings, who has his razor sharp focus on catching bent coppers. It feels at times like we\u2019re watching Hastings on his holidays, enjoying the Yorkshire countryside and delving into a police station to see if they need a hand; he is a brilliant investigator, after all.<\/span><\/p>\n Ridley\u2019s quest for the truth and justice exists in much the same vein, but this is a character who\u2019s pained and has a life outside of work. Despite the quite obvious comparisons, Ridley is an intriguing character in his own right who will no doubt grow and develop throughout the series and perhaps into a second season, too. Viewers are already rooting for him from the beginning, mainly to see him heal after the tragedy in his life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So without further ado, it\u2019s time to address the elephant in the room: the musical interludes. You read that right.<\/p>\n Much had been made of Dunbar playing \u201ca singing detective\u201d<\/a> in Ridley and the truth is a little more nuanced than that. Ridley finds solace in his local jazz club, where he can talk to Annie Marling (played by Julie Graham) about what he\u2019s really feeling. She is comforting to him, as is the music he performs.<\/p>\n However, the inclusion of the songs is admittedly jarring. In episode 1, we have two songs. The first comes from a very honest place where Ridley quite clearly hits a turning point in his grief journey. It\u2019s touching, and Dunbar plays it well.<\/p>\n The second, however, falls at the end of the episode and pulls you with immediacy from the action (in what\u2019s genuinely a very harrowing tale) and plunges you into what feels like an audition for Ridley\u2019s Christmas album. Whatever this reviewer makes of them, expect to see some hefty discussion on Twitter, regardless.<\/p>\n One big plus for Ridley is the cast, particularly the women. Aside from Dunbar, who\u2019s undoubtedly the show\u2019s pull, Bronagh Waugh\u2019s DI Carol Farman is strong, intelligent and will surely rise to the top given her talent. Her scenes with wife Geri (Bhavna Limbachia) are lovely, offering more dimensions to her character. If Ridley does ever really quit for good, a series on Farman would be a fine next step.<\/p>\n Other highlights include the warm and charming Julie Graham as Marling, the owner of the jazz club who offers some relief in scenes away from the police station, and the accomplished Georgie Glen as Dr Wendy Newstone, the chief forensics officer who\u2019s no messing and helps deliver resolutions to mystery clearly and concisely. More of her, please.<\/p>\n Ridley as a series isn\u2019t bad. If you\u2019re missing Vera, it fills the hole perfectly. The stories are surprisingly dark, never patronising, and at times can be twisty. Dunbar is very watchable as the lead, with the cast around him creating a rich world in the glorious Yorkshire setting.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a series that\u2019s reinventing the wheel, but if you\u2019re after a gentle mystery to sink your teeth into, dive into Ridley.<\/p>\n Ridley airs from Sunday 28th August at 8pm on ITV. For more, c<\/strong>heck out our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0or visit our dedicated\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0hub.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Helen Daly Published: Sunday, 28 August 2022 at 12:00 am 3.0 out of 5 star rating You might be forgiven for thinking Ridley is just a series of Ted Hastings\u2019s retirement capers, but believe it or not, it\u2019s a fully-fledged four-parter with mysteries, drama and err, soft jazz performances. Starring Adrian Dunbar as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":21018,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/ridley-review-is-adrian-dunbars-detective-series-any-good-scaled.jpg",2560,1705,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/ridley-review-is-adrian-dunbars-detective-series-any-good-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/ridley-review-is-adrian-dunbars-detective-series-any-good-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/ridley-review-is-adrian-dunbars-detective-series-any-good-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/ridley-review-is-adrian-dunbars-detective-series-any-good-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/ridley-review-is-adrian-dunbars-detective-series-any-good-1536x1023.jpg",1536,1023,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/08\/ridley-review-is-adrian-dunbars-detective-series-any-good-2048x1364.jpg",2048,1364,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Helen Daly Published: Sunday, 28 August 2022 at 12:00 am 3.0 out of 5 star rating You might be forgiven for thinking Ridley is just a series of Ted Hastings\u2019s retirement capers, but believe it or not, it\u2019s a fully-fledged four-parter with mysteries, drama and err, soft jazz performances. Starring Adrian Dunbar as the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/21017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/01\/thumbnail_RIDLEY-EARLY-RELEASE-42fcb4c.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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