Search - The Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Shadow in the North on DVD

Uh...where is the BBC version?

C. Holm | Phoenix AZ | 10/09/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I am sure that this is great but having seen the BBC version versus the PBS version, let me just say that the very critical scene of Fred proposing and her accepting is not in the PBS version. It isn't like you saw anything bad. But you did get to see Fred and Sally having a romantic moment, when she confesses that she didn't realize she is more with him than without. I refuse to buy this version."

A Great Mix of Characters Make This a Stand-Out Adaptation.

mirasreviews | McLean, VA USA | 09/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Shadow in the North" is adapted from the 2nd book in Philip Pulman's "Sally Lockhart Mysteries" series, which cast an intrepid young woman as an unlikely detective in Victorian England. It takes place in 1878, 6 years after "The Ruby in the Smoke". Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper) is now in her early 20s and has gone into business for herself as a financial consultant. Fred Garland (J.J. Feild), meanwhile, is officially in the detective business with Jim Taylor (Matt Smith). An elderly client of Sally's suspects fraud when she loses her savings on a seemingly solid investment, so Sally sets out to determine if there is something sinister behind the Swedish businessman Axel Bellman (Jared Lewis) who walked away from the bankruptcy. A conjurer named Alistair MacKinnon (Julian Rhind-Tutt) insists to Fred and Jim that he is being pursued by a murderer he saw in a vision, who is none other than Mr. Bellman.

This BBC production of "The Shadow in the North" allows for much more intricacy of plot and character development than its predecessor The Ruby in the Smoke, which had to devote most of its time to introducing characters. Sally is reluctant to give up her hard-earned independence so shuns any thought of marriage to Fred Garland, who is obviously in love with her. Glimpses of the popular spiritualist movement and Bram Stoker at the Lyceum Theatre are fun historical references. The "steam gun" at the center of the mysteries was apparently inspired by the real Nordenfelt Gun, a multi-barrel machine gun produced in the 1870s by Thorsten Nordenfelt, whose name resembles the fictional inventor of the steam gun, Arne Nordenfels. Sally is more worldly, confident, and perhaps more stubborn than she was at 16, and overall this mystery is less rushed, more satisfying, and the mix of characters from all walks of life creates a nice balance."

Shadows Everywhere....

D. S. Thurlow | Alaska | 09/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""The Shadow in the North" is the second Masterpiece Theater installment of the Sally Lockhart Mysteries, based on the novels by Philip Pullman. Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper from "Mansfield Park") is a very independent, and very unusual, self-employed female living in Victorian England. Sally bills herself as a financial consultant, but she and her photographer boyfriend Fred (JJ Feild from "Northanger Abbey") and their would-be playwright friend Jim are really a private detective agency.

The case begins with two separate threads, a old woman seeking restitution for the bankruptcy of a shipping firm, and a Scottish magician seeking protection from a mysterious man whom he saw commit a murder in a vision. Sally and Fred pursue their respective investigations, only to find them intertwining in the person of an exceedingly ruthless businessman named Axel Bellman. Bellman does not take kindly to being investigated, and will threaten Sally's reputation, her friends, and her life, before making her a shocking offer. The ending of this complicated and hard-boiled mystery features more than one plot twist.

The story is richly populated with a variety of Victorian-era characters, including a wealthy heiress, a woman who conducts surprisingly insightful seances, a seamtress who hides from the light, a mystified patent clerk, and a few dangerous thugs. The narrative is melodramatic and sometimes awkwardly modern, with an ending that would seem contrived were it not for the studious attention paid to the occult aspects of the story.

"The Shadow in the North" is highly recommended as an entertaining and different installment of Masterpiece Mystery."

Good Movie--Good Actors

Joel Michello | Virginia Beach, VA USA | 02/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have read all the Phillip Pullman novels and this second of a trilogy of TV movie versions is true to the book. I especially like Billie Piper in her role and I was not disappointed."