I Watch TV: Bergerac (2025)

 

Bergerac (2025)

Jim Bergerac (Damian Molony) is a Detective Chief Inspector for the States Of Jersey Police on the channel island of Jersey. A relatively small force (Jersey has a population of about 100,000) he’s notable for having rescued a kidnapped girl some years ago, and is the go-to detective for any serious crime. Unfortunately his wife died recently and he has spiralled down into despair and alcoholism.

Trying to get back on track, if only for the sake of his daughter Kim (and to spite his mother in law Charlie Hungerford (Zoe Wanamaker) who has opinions on how to bring up Kim) he attends AA meetings. Wanting some direction, when there’s a murder of a young mother from a rich family he returns to the police, asking the boss to assist. The boss insists he see a therapist.

Bergerac immediately makes a rival of Detective Inspector Barney Crosier, who’d been given the case. The Wakefield family led by Arthur Wakefield (Phillip Glenister) are well connected, and do not appreciate the police digging into their affairs. Then things get complicated; the baby is kidnapped, making the investigation even broader.

Jersey is a small island, but with a lot of rich people, who live there for the tax and regulatory benefits. Bergerac puts Wakefield’s nose out of joint, so he starts to rake through his past, putting an investigative journalist on his tail. Meanwhile with a baby missing, the police check on the local child-kidnappers. Crosier discovers the guy Bergerac caught for kidnapping is out of prison, but puts his alibi lower on the priority, sending Bergerac on a red herring trail, harassing the guy. Of course this brings up what exactly Bergerac did on that previous case, and the question of his methods.

A reboot of the long-running 80s show, does Bergerac need a gritty 2020s version? But let’s turn that around, old Bergerac was episodic, usually wrapping up a case in 50 minutes. And though there were light-hearted elements, and indeed light-hearted episodes, the alcoholism, the struggle to raise a child as a single parent, and with a domineering grandparent, those were all there. And the crimes got grim sometimes, the contrast with Jersey’s beautiful countryside (and seaside) with sordid secrets being a major part of the texture. Still, old Bergerac (John Nettles) didn’t struggle quite as much, wasn’t as haunted, and so was able to relax and be charming rather than be driven.

Watch This: Twisty-turny police procedural, inspecting Jersey from top to bottom
Don’t Watch This: Every twist goes one more turn taking it into silly complexity