Warren Clarke plays Andrew Dalziel -- a difficult, smug detective superintendent who flirts with dullness -- and Colin Buchanan is Detective Sgt. Peter Pascoe, his eager junior officer who anxiously tries to be engaging.

Warren Clarke plays Andrew Dalziel — a difficult, smug detective superintendent who flirts with dullness — and Colin Buchanan is Detective Sgt. Peter Pascoe, his eager junior officer who anxiously tries to be engaging.

First case starts out well enough, with rugby player Sam Connon (Ralph Brown) banged in the head during the game and heading home.

TX: TX:Filmed in England by A&E and the BBC. Producers, Chris Parr, Eric Abraham; director, Ross Devenish; writer, Alan Plater; based on book by Reginald Hill; Before going upstairs, Connon notes his wife is smoking a cigarette while she’s watching TV. After his nap, he discovers she’s been smashed in the head.

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Connon (Ralph Brown) shows little emotion, but his charming daughter Jenny (Kate Farrah) seems earnestly upset. Jenny’s boyfriend, Wilkes (Patrick Baladi), proves pleasant enough when he appears on the scene.

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An appealing blonde, Gwen (Andree Bernard), seems to enjoy acting outrageous; her husband, Arthur (Steven Spiers), is jealous as hell, suspecting something is going on between Gwen and Connon. And there’s the youthful Stanley (Darren Tighe), who has some curiously secret habits.

Across-the-street neighbors Dave and Alive (Jeremy Swift, Ingrid Wells) claim they’ve seen things. Several men at the club clutch their secrets, while Dalziel , trying to be earthy and sardonic, goes about the business of poking after the crime.

The secondary individuals are generally routine, and director Ross Devenish doesn’t find anything out of the ordinary to give them the notoriously Brit outre character attributes.

A young woman, Ellie (Susannah Corbett), ex-g.f. of Pascoe in school, is pushed into the drama, but it’s to no avail. She’s slated as a regular, but so far her credentials need checking.

Brown’s convincing as the tight-lipped widower, while Farrah’s an asset. As for the gruff, grungy, scratching Dalziel, Clarke’s interp won’t hold many witnesses; Buchanan’s Pascoe is, at best, pleasant. The detectives just don’t translate to the TV screen with much interest.

Tech credits are fine.

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A&E Mystery Movie Dalziel and Pascoe: A Clubbable Woman

  • Production: A&E Mystery Movie DALZIEL AND PASCOE: A CLUBBABLE WOMAN (Tues. (16), 9-11 p.m., A&E)
  • Crew: Camera, John Kenway; editor, John Rosser; production designer, Gavin Davies; art director, Leigh Walker; sound, Steve Phillips; music, Barrington Pheloung; casting, Doreen Jones.
  • With: Cast: Warren Clarke, Colin Buchanan, Susannah Corbett, David Royle, Ralph Brown, Kate Farrah, Mark Lambert, Steven Spiers, Andree Bernard, Bernard Latham, Robert Hudson, Ian Thompson, Peter Martin, Danny McGrath, Patrick Baladi, Jeremy Swift, Ingrid Wells, Darren Tighe, Maggie Lane, Jane Cameron, Claude Close, Dorothy Vernon, Veda Warwick. A&E contributes three "Dalziel and Pascoe" mystery vidpics to its summer fare, but the first entry doesn't break many waves.Reginald Hill's novel and characters haven't been well served in this intro: It's not just that the investigating characters aren't mesmerizing, it's that the overall work isn't commanding in this sample by adaptor Alan Plater.

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