DVD & BluRay

BAPTISTE: SERIES TWO Acorn, cert 15, DVD 2-disc set £24.99

The limping French detective who featured in both series of The Missing, returns for a final solo case which is heavy on loss and grief. So, not a cheery pick-me-up after another difficult year! Presumably, writers Harry and Jack Williams, felt it was time ageing and infirmed Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo - pictured) gave up chasing much younger villains and having punch-ups. Besides, there’s his marriage to try and salvage after the tragic suicide of his daughter widened the rift with his wife, who’s grown weary of his mission to save everyone who goes missing in the world. This time he inserts himself into an investigation after the husband and two sons of Emma Chambers (Fiona Shaw), the British ambassador to Hungary, vanish on a hiking holiday. It quickly becomes clear this is a family with relationship problems, and grief over their dead daughter to deal with (which is a bond between Baptiste and Emma), not to mention diverging political beliefs.

Some dangerous as far as Emma’s sons are concerned. As with all the Williams brothers’ previous work, this Baptiste tale is told over past and present timelines so viewers are kept on their toes. The story gets up and running when Emma wakes up in the hotel and discovers hubby Richard and their sons missing. Naturally, when the case hits French TV Baptiste is drawn like a moth

to the flame, and arrives eager to help. No surprise, he quickly uncovers evidence the incompetent Hungarian plods have missed. And believe me, the plot really does thicken from there, like a bubbling goulash of violence.