Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | Wexford, Dalgliesh, Montalbano, Carvalho, Rogas And Dci Jane Tennison | 20121102 | Mark Lawson continues his series about the way crime fiction has depicted modern European history - looking at the shifts in UK society charted by PD James and Ruth Rendell - from rural racism and road rage to fears about changes in the Church of England. Their male inspectors Dalgliesh and Wexford were followed by DCI Jane Tennison in Lynda La Plante's Prime Suspect - a TV series which mirrored real police employment practices and which spawned female leads from Val McDermid's Carol Jordan to The Killing's Sarah Lund. The surrealist influenced novels of Montalban and his Barcelona gourmet PI Pepe Carvalho are discussed by Antonio Hill and Jason Webster. They explore the impact of setting novels in the Catholic country of Spain where post Franco, the transition to democracy and the role of the monarchy provide a rich contemporary history. In Italy an engagement with modern politics involves grappling with the influence of the Mafia - a plotline which you find in the novels of both Andrea Camilleri and his predecessor Leonardo Sciascia. Mark Lawson travels to Rome to meet the creator of the Sicilian Inspector Montalbano. Producer: Robyn Read. The mafia in Italy, UK policing and Spanish politics are investigated by Mark Lawson. Mark Lawson examines how mystery novels reflect a country's history and political system. |
| 03 | Wallander, Hole, Rebus, Fandorin And Kayankaya | 20121109 | Mark Lawson continues his series looking at the way shifts in modern European society have been depicted in crime fiction. In Germany, Mark Lawson meets Jakob Arjouni to discuss his Turkish PI Kemal Kayankaya and the way events including the war in Yugoslavia and re-unification have fed into his writing. Outside the Scottish parliament building, Ian Rankin describes the changes in Scottish politics which his Rebus stories have charted and the links he sees with Scandinavia - where authors including Jo Nesbo, Henning Mankell, Stieg Larsson and Liza Marklund have tackled racism and the increasing gap between rich and poor in their novels. In Russia, the tradition of crime writing is less developed and Boris Akunin and Andrey Kurkov reflect on their different approaches. Producer: Robyn Read. Mark Lawson looks at German, Scandinavian, Scottish and Russian modern crime fiction. Mark Lawson examines how mystery novels reflect a country's history and political system. |