Review by C.J. Bunce
“Never meet your heroes.” I find that saying is only true about five percent of the time. It’s the saying Gwyneth Keyworth explores head-on with her character Detective Sergeant Jane Mallowan in the new mystery series Death Valley, now streaming on Prime Video via BritBox. A police officer in Wales, DS Mallowan is investigating a murder when she encounters a former famous TV detective who is now a bit of a recluse, played to the hilt by Harry Potter franchise actor and familiar genre favorite Timothy Spall. I haven’t seen an actress explode with personality on the screen or steal every scene like Keyworth–not since iZombie and Ghosts star Rose McIver–and they actually look and sound and act like they could be sisters. A series with unique performances and new episodes airing weekly, Death Valley has all the elements to become one of the top British mystery shows.
Only two episodes have been released so far. The first wastes no time introducing DS Mallowan. She is sharp and canny, knows her job, and is eager to get interview witnesses rapidly in and out. That efficiency may come from the Joe Friday school of just-the-facts investigation, but she also seems like police work is like any other job and there’s a right and wrong way to do it. Viewers only get hints of her personal life–she can’t afford a new car or a house and still lives at home with her mom. But she doesn’t complain unless a colleague reminds her of her status. She also knows her pop culture references, and as a fan of Caesar, a detective show that starred John Chapel (played by Spall) as the title sleuth, she gets a bit fangirlish when she unexpectedly knocks on Chapel’s door while conducting interviews.
Gwyneth Keyworth’s ability to show the less filtered side of her character is endearing and will win over viewers instantly. Her unique brand of friendly charisma also wins over her boss, Steffan Rhodri’s DCI Clarke, who ultimately allows her to tap the retired fictional detective whose enthusiasm and recall of TV series plots may make these two the next best detective duo, inside the world of the show and out. Best of all neither DS Mallowan nor Chapel are plagued with personal issues that define their characters, as the mystery trope so often seems to require, such as with Sherlock Holmes, Adrian Monk, Professor T, or Dr. Gregory House.
As Timothy Spall’s hermit announces in-character as the retired actor, so many elements of the first crime mirrored elements of an Agatha Christie story. Indeed, red herrings are everywhere, and even if the mysteries aren’t all that twisty, this is a series we’ll return to just to watch Mallowan and Chapel do their thing. The quaint and familiar to TV watchers Wales locations feel very much in the Rosemary & Thyme vein. This is cozy mystery with maybe a little edge but not too much. Have viewers seen this before? Of course–it seems impossible the writers didn’t know about Steve Martin’s former actor turned sleuth in Only Murders in the Building when writing Spall’s character. But part of the fun of mystery shows is how more than a century of established tropes are re-imagined.
John Chapel may be Timothy Spall’s defining character if the series takes hold and gets subsequent seasons. Especially with that fantastic beard in the first episode, he looks great and slips into his wise elder role similar to David Thewlis’s performance in his new Sherlock & Daughter role. You can’t predict what will happen next, but a series could hardly start any better than the first two episodes of Death Valley. But make no mistake: Keyworth owns this show. The comparison between Gwyneth Keyworth and Rose McIver can be taken a bit further in that the series mirrors the beats of McIver’s iZombie, one of genredom’s all time best police procedural mash-ups. Death Valley is iZombie without the supernatural, both with plucky heroines with a modern sense of humor solving crimes, both with an Indo-British co-worker (Rithvik Andugula co-stars here as DC Chaudry), both with a crime of the week with humorous dialogue–but not just a show full of jokes. Keyworth’s facial reactions are so much like McIver’s and the plot beats are so familiar that iZombie fans will feel right at home even without the zombies.
You may recognize Keyworth from her standout roles in episodes of two of our favorite mystery series, Hinterland and Case Histories. She’s also appeared in Midsomer Murders, Game of Thrones, and Alex Rider. Alexandria Riley (The Pembrokeshire Murders) plays her co-worker.
For fans of Death in Paradise, Monk, iZombie, Rosemary & Thyme, Case Histories, Only Murders in the Building, and all mysteries cozy and otherwise, Death Valley has it all with quick-witted dialogue and actors you can tell love to perform. Catch the first two of six first-season episodes now on BritBox via Prime Video, with new episodes streaming weekly Thursdays. The series has not yet been renewed for a second season, although it has some of the highest ratings locally of any scripted series in five years so it seems likely.
