''Vexed'' is a British
comedy-drama,
police procedural television series for
BBC Two that aired in 2010 and 2012.
Created and written by
Howard Overman
Howard Overman is a British television writer, best known for creating the series ''Misfits'' which won the 2010 BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series and the police-procedural comedy ''Vexed''.
Career
Overman has written scripts for ser ...
, the first series starred
Lucy Punch
Lucy Punch (born 30 December 1977) is a British actress. She has appeared in the films '' Ella Enchanted'', ''Hot Fuzz'', ''You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger'', '' Dinner for Schmucks,'' and ''Into the Woods''. She is also known for her role as ...
as
D.I. Kate Bishop and
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the UK, US and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film ''Die Another Day'' (for which he was nominated for th ...
as D.I. Jack Armstrong, a detective duo with a fractious relationship. Jack is lazy and disorganised but charming, whereas Kate is efficient and usually exasperated by Jack's way of doing things. The show also starred
Rory Kinnear
Rory Michael Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor and playwright who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. In 2014, he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of William Sha ...
, who plays Kate's husband Dan, with whom she is going through marriage counselling. Other recurring characters are Naz, an eccentric crime scene specialist, and Tony, owner of the bar at which the characters relax. The drama is set in contemporary London.
Next series
In the second series (first announced on 18 January 2012) Punch and Kinnear did not return. Lucy's character was replaced by
Miranda Raison
Miranda Caroline Raison (born 18 November 1977) is an English actress and voice-over narrator.
Early life
Miranda Raison was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, on 18 November 1977. Her mother is former Anglia News reader Caroline Raison (''né ...
playing D.I. Georgina Dixon, with
Nick Dunning
Nick Dunning (born 1957 in London) is an English actor.
He is a well known theatre actor who attended RADA (Dip Hons) 1977, where he won the Ronson Prize for Most Promising Young Actor. He has appeared on stage in the West End in London and a ...
playing her father, a retired policeman with a dubious security business.
The portrayal of Jack in the second series has him being a bit more competent and less comedically over-the-top than in the first series, but still having sufficient character traits to consistently annoy his new partner. She has her own personality issues, which Jack is quick to point out.
Cast
*
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the UK, US and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film ''Die Another Day'' (for which he was nominated for th ...
as D.I. Jack Armstrong
*
Lucy Punch
Lucy Punch (born 30 December 1977) is a British actress. She has appeared in the films '' Ella Enchanted'', ''Hot Fuzz'', ''You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger'', '' Dinner for Schmucks,'' and ''Into the Woods''. She is also known for her role as ...
as D.I. Kate Bishop (series 1)
*
Rory Kinnear
Rory Michael Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor and playwright who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. In 2014, he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of William Sha ...
as Dan Bishop, Kate's husband (series 1)
*
Ronny Jhutti
Ronny Jhutti (born Ajay Jhutti, 1973) is a British actor, most notable for his role as Sohail Karim in '' EastEnders'', Danny Bartock in two episodes of '' Doctor Who'' and Naz Omar in ''Vexed''.
Ronny was raised in London, where he was born, as ...
as Naz Omar
*
Roger Griffiths
Roger Griffiths (born 6 February 1965) is an English actor who has had several roles in television.
He first rose to prominence opposite Lenny Henry as Gareth Blackstock's foil Everton Stonehead in BBC One 1990s sitcom '' Chef!''. Before starr ...
as Tony
*
Miranda Raison
Miranda Caroline Raison (born 18 November 1977) is an English actress and voice-over narrator.
Early life
Miranda Raison was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, on 18 November 1977. Her mother is former Anglia News reader Caroline Raison (''né ...
as D.I. Georgina Dixon (series 2)
*
Nick Dunning
Nick Dunning (born 1957 in London) is an English actor.
He is a well known theatre actor who attended RADA (Dip Hons) 1977, where he won the Ronson Prize for Most Promising Young Actor. He has appeared on stage in the West End in London and a ...
as Peter Dixon, Georgina's father (series 2)
*
Patrick Baladi
Patrick Bashir Baladi (born 25 December 1971) is an English actor and musician. He is best known for playing Neil Godwin in the BBC sitcom ''The Office'', Michael Jackson in the Sky 1 drama '' Stella'' and Stephen Holmes in the ITV thriller ' ...
as Mark Armstrong, Jack's brother (series 2)
*Ashley Artus as Tim (series 1: episode 2)
Production
The series was filmed in South West London, in particular Kingston upon Thames, Richmond on Thames, and Twickenham. Some of the second series filmed in Ireland.
Series 1, Episode 2 (TX 22-8-2010) was extensively filmed in the grounds and interior of Stoke Court (Stoke Poges). This had earlier served as Bayer Group UK's conference centre and laboratories.
The first series was produced by Greenlit Rights Productions and the second is produced by Eleventh Hour Films.
[
During the UK transmission of the programme in July 2010, it was reported that Greenlit had entered administration.
The theme tune for the series one was composed by Willie Dowling, former keyboardist with rock group ]The Wildhearts
The Wildhearts are an English rock band, formed in 1989 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band's sound is a mixture of hard rock and melodic pop music, often described in the music press as combining influences as diverse as the Beatles and 1980s- ...
.
DVD releases
Series One was released by Acorn Media UK on 20 August 2012.
Series Two was released exclusively by Acorn Media UK on their website in December 2012 and was released elsewhere on 4 March 2013.
Series One and Two boxset was released by Acorn Media UK on 8 July 2013.
Critical reception
The first series received a mixed response from critics.
The ''Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...
''s Paddy Shennan called it "deliciously black" and added that it could become a "cop classic". He also praised Stephens's performance, likening it to Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters.
Nielsen was bo ...
's in ''The Naked Gun
''The Naked Gun'' media franchise, also known as ''Police Squad!'', consists of several American crime spoof-comedies, based on an original story written by the comedy filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. The installments include one ...
''.
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''s Sam Wollaston also liked it, saying "It's cheeky, irreverent, puerile, sometimes inappropriate. It also made me laugh, almost out loud a few times, and that's no bad thing in a comedy" and again praised Stephens's "fabulous" acting, while Punch's performance was "excellent".
He asserted:
"Toby Stephens is fabulous as übertwerp Jack. He has a nice, pleased-as-punch-with-himself complacency, changing his voice and raising an eyebrow when he talks to ladies. There's a hint of self-doubt there, but not enough to stop him being a total cock. And Lucy Punch as Kate is excellent at being appalled by him, but also just a tiny bit impressed, even attracted to him. Together they're wonderfully awful."
Most others disagreed with this. The ''Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...
'' called it "rubbish" and said Stephens's acting was "over the top" ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
''s Patrick Smith lamented its " uddingly lame humour", Rachel Cooke
Rachel Cooke (born 1969) is a British journalist and writer.
Early life
Cooke was born in Sheffield, and is the daughter of a university lecturer.
She went to school in Jaffa, Israel, until she was 11, before returning to Sheffield, and atten ...
of the ''New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
'' called it "atrocious". "Truly abysmal" said Kevin Myers of the ''Irish Independent'' while Sean Myers blamed "a sub-standard script totally lacking in style and imagination". and Damien Love of '' The Herald'' (Glasgow) said it was " d beyond belief... one of the worst things I have ever seen on television.", and likened Toby Stephen's performance to "Hugh Grant doing an impression of Ross Kemp, doing an impression of Hugh Grant doing an impression of Bodie from The Professionals", although he believed there was a chance that Lucy Punch was "wasted" in the show.
Episodes
Series One (2010)
Series Two (2012)
Series two of ''Vexed'' was broadcast Wednesdays at 9pm at the same time as the London Olympic games. Episode five was broadcast at the same time as the opening ceremony of the London Paralympics games.
Both Series One and Two are available on Netflix in Canada, the U.K. & U.S.Netflix listing, retrieved June 21, 2018
/ref>
References
External links
*
*
*{{IMDb title, id=1497609, title=Vexed
Facebook - Vexed Fan Page
2010 British television series debuts
2012 British television series endings
BBC television dramas
BBC high definition shows
English-language television shows
Television shows set in the Republic of Ireland
Detective television series
British detective television series