Fri 27 Apr 2012
A British TV Series Review by Geoff Bradley: DIAMOND GEEZER (2007)
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[10] Comments
DIAMOND GEEZER. Granada TV, UK, April 2007. David Jason, Stephen Wight, Gary Whelan. Created by Caleb Ranson.
Diamond Geezer was a three part series (90 minutes each, less adverts) to follow up the original programme (20 March 2005). Des (David Jason) is a superior crook with a heart who sets out to accomplish some impossible crimes. They are watchable but ludicrous and certainly not as clever as they profess to be.
For example in the first, where Des steals the world’s largest diamond from Buckingham Palace no less, he has an accomplice press a button on a phone-sized devise which immediately knocks out all the close circuit TV in the Palace. No explanation at all as to what this devise is that can render the security useless or how Des could get one.
Amusing, I suppose, if you want an evening with the brain disengaged.
Editorial Comment: Although not released in the US, all three episodes plus the 2005 pilot are available on DVD in the UK. You need a multi-region player, but the box set should not cost you more than $20, including shipping. I had thought of picking it up, but after reading Geoff’s review, I am much less anxious to do so.
April 27th, 2012 at 10:45 pm
I liked the original (con breaks out of jail secretly to commit a crime then breaks back in for the perfect alibi). Others were so-so.
I rented these from Netflix.
April 27th, 2012 at 10:55 pm
I think that happens quite often. The pilot film is a whole lot better than the series that follows. There can be lots of reasons, but in this case I’d be guessing more than usual.
Were the DVDs you rented from Netflix Region 1? When I went looking while getting this review ready to post, I couldn’t find any, only the UK set.
April 27th, 2012 at 10:58 pm
Aha! It was released in the US by Acorn as ROUGH DIAMOND. I’ll bet they thought that DIAMOND GEEZER would be a tough sell as a title in the US. I’ll also bet they were right.
April 28th, 2012 at 2:51 am
The problem is that David Jason was (and still is) a very big name on British TV. This series has the feel of someone saying “Look, we’ve got David Jason. That’ll be enough. He’ll carry it. Why do we need good scripts?”
April 28th, 2012 at 4:35 pm
As a Computer-gamer , I’d say :
Commit your crimes in God-mode !
The Doc
April 28th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
I discover that I got carried away last night. Back in Comment #3 I reported on the existence of the box set of this series which was retitled for the US market. To be precise, it was late last night, and when I found a “like new” copy offered at more than 50% off the list price, I must have clicked on the “Buy It Now” button, without even registering with me that that was what I was doing.
I’ve received an email from the seller saying the DVDs are on their way to me. That was easy!
April 28th, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Doc
There’s a Latin phrase for that, if I’m reading you correctly, and I think I am. Something along the lines of “deus ex machina.”
I’m fairly sure it isn’t “Veni, vidi, vici” instead, but my last Latin class was my sophomore year of High School, so I suppose I could be wrong about that.
April 29th, 2012 at 4:01 am
Well, Steve, in ‘God-mode’, the player himself is the deus ex machina.
Deus ex machina derives from their theater, where quite often a god ,brought onto the stage by a theater machine, resolved the troubles .
The Doc
April 30th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
It’s available from Netflix under the “Rough Diamond” title. I watched it a few months ago. Preposterous, but a good watch.
April 30th, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Thanks for the input, Mike, which sounds hopeful, although the leading word in your five-word review, preposterous, agrees a lot with what Geoff had to say. (If I may, I’ll add your email handle, detmik64, to distinguish you from the several other Mike’s who comment here on a regular basis.)
As I reported in Comment #6, the set of DVDs is already on its way to me. I’ll report further after they get here and I give them a whirl myself.