

3.390 minSeason 8 • Episode 2
LatestDCI Gently is set for retirement, but when DI Lister, the head of a new covert special investigations unit, presents him with an unsolved case, Gently can't resist one more intriguing offer. The case leads to political intrigue and corruption - and tests Gently to his core. When the team faces mortal danger, how will they survive?
Crime drama set in the 1960s about an old-school detective trying to come to terms with a time when the lines between the police and criminals have become blurred.
Acting
Martin Shaw's eyebrows deserve their own BAFTA.
Production
Newcastle never looked this grimy-gorgeous.
Writing
Bacchus evolves from punchable to precious.
Creator
Peter Flannery
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Martin Shaw took the role specifically because his agent said he'd hate it, and he wanted to prove he could do 'gentle' after decades of tough guys. The eyebrows were his own idea.
The series quietly maps 1960s social upheaval onto crime plots—homosexuality laws, women's liberation, race relations—making it sneakily educational for viewers who came for the cozy mystery.