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The Ruth Rendell Mysteries - Set 3 | 
 enlarge | Directors: Bill Hays, Jan Sargent
Actors: George Baker, Christopher Ravenscroft, Louie Ramsay, Diane Keen, Ken Kitson
Studio: Acorn Media
Category: DVD
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $29.77
You Save: $20.22 (40%)
New (39) Used (10) from $27.00
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 19728
Format: Box Set, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 3
Running Time: 460 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.9
MPN: ACRDAMP8065D
UPC: 054961806591
EAN: 0054961806591
ASIN: B0013XS88E
Release Date: June 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries: Set 3 contains five more dramas of psychological suspense, based on Rendell's stories of compulsion, obsession, crossed signals, and haunted pasts. Most gratifying is the inclusion of episode "Harm Done," featuring Rendell's most famous character, Chief Inspector Reg Wexford (George Baker), the soft-spoken, by-the-book cop who nevertheless harbors a fiery temper when his judgement is challenged. The aging Wexford is confronted with a horrifying kidnapping mystery that might, in fact, be more than one crime. A female toddler disappears from her upstairs bedroom at a swank mansion at the same time several teenage girls vanish for days at a time, only to return with little to say about their ordeal. Complicating matters is the release of a convicted pedophile from prison, moving into his daughter's home and incurring the wrath of neighbors. "The Lake of Darkness" is an interesting piece about a bisexual businessman (Jerome Flynn) who comes into some money and doesn't know how to gracefully give it away to needy people, despite best intentions. His bumbling philanthropy unintentionally ventures into dangerous territory when he tries to help an old woman whose son is a serial killer. Sadie Frost co-stars as a married woman who begins an affair with him, though there is more to that situation than meets the eye. "You Can't Be Too Careful" is a so-so, twist-ending sort of tale about a single woman (Serena Evans) whose preoccupation with safety becomes a problem when she shares a flat with a hard-partying officemate (June Hazlegrove) who doesn't appreciate her concerns. In some ways, the most interesting drama in this set is "The Fallen Curtain," an unconventionally written story about a young man (Ben Brazier) consumed with the question of what happened to him during several hours of his childhood--when he disappeared in the company of a stranger. Seeking an answer, he replicates the original scene in a role reversal, playing the stranger and pressuring an unsuspecting boy into cooperating. The strange adventure becomes increasingly taut because we don't know--and neither does the central character--where his experiment is leading. Finally, "Going Wrong," a two-parter, is the only clinker here, a tedious story, with obvious echoes of The Great Gatsby, about a wealthy lout (James Callis) who has never lost his adolescent fixation on a girl (Josephine Butler) and doesn't intend to stop just because she's grown up and wants to marry another man. --Tom Keogh
Product Description
Studio: Acorn Media Release Date: 06/24/2008 Run time: 460 minutes
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| Customer Reviews:
Why so few Wexford? August 11, 2008
A. Paton (Scotland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There is no doubt that the Ruth Rendell psychological stories are excellent. The problem is that the best of her stories feature Inspector Wexford, and, so far, only three, of the 26 or so stories, are available on DVD. Why? It can't be lack of sales as all Ruth Rendell's stuff sells well. Whoever has the mastertapes, lets have some more Wexford.
Unsettling, Twisted Suspense August 9, 2008
Stephanie DePue (Carolina Beach, NC USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Set 3,"is the latest installment of the popular British mystery television series, based on the work of Rendell, an English master of the twisted suspense thriller. It presents us five new psychological crime dramas based on the author's best-selling, bounteous, award-winning fiction, including the Inspector Wexford mystery "Harm Done." The series, made by Granada TV for Britain's Independent Television (ITV), was broadcast here, in syndication, on public television in the late 1990s. But a warning note: there are no subtitles, and Rendell's well-bred characters speak softly.
The episodes are:
"Going Wrong."Guy (James Callis--"Battlestar Galactica," "Bridget Jones's Diary") and Leonora (Josephine Butler) are wild teenagers, and she makes promises. But life doesn't work that way, does it, and handsome Guy, who's made himself rich in the interval, just can't accept it. He goes too far. The longest of the episodes, at nearly three hours, and slow on its feet.
"Harm Done." Detective Chief Inspector Wexford (George Baker), a man of few words, has his hands brim-full. A pedophile has returned to town (from prison) to live with his-- the pedophile's -- daughter, on a roiled-up council estate. Also,there's an odd series of abductions of teenagers, returned unharmed. And a wealthy couple's toddler daughter has disappeared from her bedroom. About an hour and a half long.
"The Fallen Curtain." Based on an Edgar-award winning short story. Teenager Richard Clayton (Ben Brazier) remains strangely haunted by a few unaccounted-for hours when he went missing as a boy. Barbara Ewing costars as his mother, whose hysterical reaction is no help. A bit less than an hour long.
"The Lake of Darkness." The book on which it's based won an Arts Council National Book Award. This is the most fully-realized of the episodes, at a bit more than an hour and a half long, and it's value-packed. Good acting, shocking turns of plot. Boring bisexual accountant Martin Urban (Jerome Flynn) can't believe his luck: he's won the lottery, and met the beautiful, mysterious Francesca (Sadie Frost, "An Ideal Husband") at virtually the same time. But luck always turns, doesn't it, especially in Ruth Rendell's work.
"You Can't Be Too Careful." A rather light-weight, short, two-character study. A security-obsessed woman (Serena Evans) takes on a new flatmate (Jane Hazlegrove) from the office. She shouldn't have: these are two women who were never meant to live together.
By and large, Rendell's works are unsettling; she knows how to ratchet up suspense, and they end up in places you never expected. Furthermore, these scripts appear to be fairly faithful to their origins. The author's work is, perhaps, an acquired taste; but one that lots of readers and viewers have acquired.
More Rendell Suspense June 26, 2008
Tom S. (New York City)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is Volume 3 of the British TV anthology series devoted to the one and only Ruth Rendell, and it's a mixed bag. The first 2 volumes covered the early 1990s seasons in the series, and they were very good--well-directed, well-acted adaptations of her books and short stories, with familiar British actors and a fine sense of atmosphere. Volume 3 covers 1997-2000, and it's not as strong as the earlier entries.
There are 3 novels and 2 short stories here, and not one of them really stands out. The Wexford mystery, "Harm Done," is probably the best of the lot, with George Baker (Wexford) and Christopher Ravenscroft (Burden) solving a connected series of domestic abuse mysteries in Kingsmarkham. The dramatization of Rendell's award-winning novel, "The Lake of Darkness," is also okay-but-unremarkable, as are the 2 short stories here, "The Fallen Curtain" and "You Can't Be Too Careful." But then there's the long (3-part, nearly 3-hour) adaptation of one of her weakest novels, "Going Wrong," and it is an appropriate title. This shrill, unpleasant story of romantic obsession and murder just goes on and on, and nothing about it is distinguished.
These later seasons of THE RUTH RENDELL MYSTERIES didn't seem to have the great actors and directors of the earlier ones, and I wonder why. At any rate, Rendell fanatics like me will want to complete their collections with this box, but newcomers should first check out the superior Volumes 1 and 2. Semi-Recommended.
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