Acorn Media
Starring: Ian McShane, Phyllis Logan, Dudley Sutton, Chris Jury
If you are unfamiliar with this show, Lovejoy (DEADWOOD’s Ian McShane) is a charming, rather scruffy antiques dealer with a sixth sense (A Person with this sense is known as “divvy”.) for the genuine articles. One would think that a person with this skill would be successful and quite rich. Sadly, this is not the case for Lovejoy (No Mr., just Lovejoy). His strong sense of right and wrong, along with his fondness for the ladies, not only keeps his coffers just shy of empty, but also tend to land him in questionable situations. Because of said situations, the police always have an eye on him and are quick to haul him in when something is stolen.
Not that Lovejoy is a criminal. While he is not above creating replicas of antiques, it is almost always to swindle those that swindled others.
Assisting in (and sometimes getting him into) these adventures are Tinker Dill (Dudley Sutton), an older expert on antiques with more than a little love for alcohol, Eric Catchpole (Chris Jury), his apprentice whose main job is chauffeuring Lovejoy around and running errands for him, and Lady Jane Felsham (Phyllis Logan), a lovely local member of the aristocracy. The chemistry between Lovejoy and Lady Jane is powerful but, much to Lovejoy’s frustration, they remain merely good friends.
Season two hit the airwaves a full five years after the first. Not sure why, since the first season did quite well.
As season two starts, Lovejoy is just getting out of an eight-month stint in prison. He was the victim of a set up that was orchestrated by a rather (surprise, surprise) lovely lady. Lovejoy tracks her down, and those that were in cahoots with her, and extracts his own brand of vengeance (a little coin for his troubles).
Season two has all of the charm of season one. The time off did little to hurt that, as everyone seems to step right back into the rhythm of the show. Each episode is a tale by itself, with each caper being wrapped up by the end of the hour.
Most of the tales are solid, capers of a light-hearted nature. But you don’t watch the show (or at least I don’t) for the stories. You watch it for the characters and the fantastic chemistry between them. Everyone seems to know their role and is very comfortable with it.
I first caught Lovejoy on A&E back in the early 90s and was a big fan. The years have not made it any less enjoyable. If you like mystery shows with a light-hearted touch, you can’t go wrong with Lovejoy.
Jeremy Lynch
