Hazell - The Complete First Series DVD > Reviews > Hazell Hits the Small Screen

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	An interesting and unusual detective series
Disadvantages:	Some minor storyline elements are not explained clearly

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

When a young Police Detective gets invalided out of the force with an ankle injury, what does he do next? Well, after the obligatory divorce and battle with the demon drink, he picks himself up and sets up shop as a private investigator, or private inquiry agent if you want to sound slightly more respectable.

We first meet the amiable James Hazell as he embarks on his first case, for hard-nosed solicitor Gordon Gregory. Life is looking up for the smooth-talking cockney, with a smart Triumph Stag and a plush rent-free apartment (looking after it for a friend of a friend, currently serving 7 years at Her Majesty's pleasure). Every silver lining has a cloud of course, and the rookie investigator often meets trouble, usually of the violent kind, although his eye for the ladies doesn't help matters.

He rents an small office in Mayfair of all places, where his landlady there, Dot Wilmington, who runs her own investigation agency is usually on hand to dispense advice, whether he wants to hear it or not and often gives him investigations to work on. Hazell's new line of work sends him into some rough ground, mainly in London's east End, but this is an area the streetwise Hazell knows well. There are authentically shabby locations inhabited by equally shabby characters - a motley crew of small-time gangsters, cheats and drunks for the most part.

The people supposedly on his side aren't much better. There's cousin Tel, the wheeler dealer of the family, and 'Choc' Minty, a dour dry-humoured Scotsman and former colleague, still a Detective Inspector, who has a habit of appearing just at the wrong moment to ask a favour. This is usually in exchange for not revealing Hazell's whereabouts to recently released villains that Hazell has previously helped put behind bars. Hazell himself though is not averse to issuing the odd threat or bending the truth to get his way.

Based on the novels by Gordon Williams and Terry Venables (yes, THAT Terry Venables), Nicholas Ball is perfectly cast as the the charismatic Hazell who presents a somewhat stylish appearance amongst the drab late 70's London (even Mayfair looks grotty), and to my mind there are some parallels with the Rockford Files, but Hazell is no worse for that.

What really makes Hazell stand out, is the voice-over, in the style of the classic Philip Marlowe films. Running throughout each episode, this often humorous narration gives an insight into Hazell's thoughts, as well as being a good device for moving the story on at a faster rate than if additional scenes had been filmed.

Each episode title begins 'Hazell ...' such as 'Hazell and the Walking Blur' in which he tries to assist a hungover Scotsman retrace his steps from the night before in the hope of figuring out how £1400 in cash ended up in his coat pocket. He gets lead a merry dance around Soho before solving the case without get roughed up this time, but only just.

The memorable 'whistling' theme tune had lyrics sung by husky voiced Maggie Bell, who also sang on Taggart's closing credits. There was a second (and final) series of 12 episodes in 1980, and I remember a Hazell-esque character played by Nicholas Ball turning up in an 'Alas Smith and Jones' sketch, spouting gibberish cockney to a bemused country copper played by Griff Rhys Jones.

It would have been good if the first episode was more of a scene-setter for the series, particularly Hazell's relationships with the other regular characters. Although we learn more as the episodes pass, I am still not clear how Dot or Gordon became involved with Hazell. To some extent, the viewer is thrown in at the deep end, but this does not detract from what is a very watchable series. As Hazell himself might say "Triffic!"