Customer Reviews
England As It Was - By: Vanessa M, 27 Jul 2008 
This is exactly what has been said. Excellent acting (although the '60's one' was a bit embarrassing at times), good stories that have stood the test of time, as has the series. Lovely to see London in those days, the cars, fashions etc. Reallly surprisingly good.
A BIG THANK YOU TO AMAZON AND THE MARRIC'S FANS - By: Olivier Comte, 17 Jun 2008 I bought this great series thanks to the reviews. My wife made me discover the GIDEON novels fifteen years ago. As Marric is not fashionable we were able to buy first editions in London at reasonable price. Of course, I am now a fan. I am also impressed by the lists of Creasey's novels in the 20TH CENTURY CRIME AND MYSTERY WRITERS.
As an old movie buff, I knew the John Ford picture & I was afraid that John Gregson wouldn't measure up to Jack Hawkins who had the build & the talent for the character.
Fortunately, Gregson is a winner; quite convincing. I had admired him since I saw GENEVIEVE in my youth.
Thanks again to alll the people who made me buy this great series (with great location shooting)
Olivier COMTE
Excellent box set - By: Brian Carson, 10 Feb 2008 Outstanding performances from guests stars such as Gerald Harper, Alfie Bass, George Cole, Ray McAnallly, Rosemary Leach, George Baker & Gordon Jackson.
Disc One:
The Tin God
The 'V' Men
To Catch a Tiger
The Rhyme & the Reason
Disc Two:
The White Rat
The State Visit
The Firebug
The Lady-Killer
Disc Three:
The Big Fix
Big Fish, Little Fish
The Housekeeper
The Nightlifters
Disc Four:
Falll High, Falll Hard
How to Retire Without Reallly Working
The Walll
Subway to Revenge
Disc Five:
Gang War
The Alibi Man
The Prowler
The Thin Red Line
Disc Six:
The Great Plane Robbery
The Reluctant Witness
The Millionaire's Daughter
Disc Seven:
Boy With Gun
Morna
A Perfect Crime.
Essential viewing - By: T. Krings, 30 Nov 2007 John Creasy left a still uncharted ouevre of well over 500 books. Given
that number it's not surprising that some of them are of indifferent
quality. The Gideon series to me were his strongest books: Creasy is
one of the few authors who can write realistic police procedurals from
the point of view of a manager rather than the ordinary copper. Gideon
is not only in charge of solving crime but also encounters leadership
issues & has a lively & large family. This makes the books original
reading. Plus in the Gideon books there is interesting comment on the
state of the nation- hardly surprising when you know that Creasy was
head of a political movement in the 60s. The TV series takes many
elements of the books. Needless to say that the 40/45 minutes format
does not manage to present a variety of cases at a given moment but
rather one case per episode. The interstinmg thing about the series is
that within this format there are hardly any flat characters
particularly amongst the bad guys. Although there is no sympathy there
is a lotof empathy in the complex character sketches: check out the
episodes "White Rat" with a great performance by Ray Mcanallly as
psychotic albino gangster or the episode about a former concentration
camp inmate. That's what makes the series so special, this wealth of
character. I think only The Sweeney ever managed to get anywhere near
that. The stories are well paced, well told & there is an amazing
array of reallly great actors in this series. The other thing is that in view of censorship in the 60s Gideon's Way is quite amazingly open & realistic (particularly compared to US stuff of the time). What reallly impressed me was the stark contrast of the "new" London of the 1960s & the squalor some people were still living in at the time (Creasy points that out in Gideon's Fire) & the enormous social change going on at the time. My favourite episode is "The thin red line" -not based on a Creasy novel- which is both a fairly touching story but also a scalding satire on the army.
gripping and nostalgic - By: Colby, 21 Aug 2007 What a treat. This reallly brings back the memories of a Britain long gone.
Policemen walked the streets back then; didn't have personal radio's, police telephone boxes of Tardis fame sufficed for communication. They drove around in black Wolseley cars - equipped with the latest in radiophone technology. Seeing the decor of the houses featured in the series, interior design wasn't even a twinkle in the eye, Laurence Llewelyn Bowen would have had a field day. The location filming is a running documentary on Sixties Britain, shopping, fashion, attitudes, London Docklands before it went up market, cars(Humbers, Zephyrs, Jaguars,et al), London's gangland it's alll in the mix.
Apart from the nostalgia the storylines are surprisingly gritty too, with endings that occasionallly catch you on the hop with an unexpected twist in the tail. John Gregson is great as Commander George Gideon, warm & sociable with an uncanny knack of apprehending the villain in the very act of committing the dastardly deed. The medley of actors that appear will have your head spinning, from Finlay Currie near the end of his career to an early outing for John Hurt.
I loved this set for alll of the above & more, it is British television at it's best.
