Overview: An oddball couple of private detectives named Luella Shakespeare and Frank Hathaway investigate crime in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

DVD Verdict: I have to say right out the gate that prior to this 2-Disc DVD set arriving here for review, and being myself being British, I had never heard of this great little gem of a crime solving TV show before today!

Another of those quaint British shows produced by the BBC for afternoon broadcast in the UK - much like, and the same production team as Doctors, Land Girls, Father Brown, The Coroner, WPC 56, et al - Shakespeare & Hathaway is a rather delightful 10 episode, mild-mannered Whodunit of a TV show.

EPISODE 1 - A BRAVE NEW WORLD
Things aren’t looking good for ex-cop Frank Hathaway: his detective agency is in dire financial straits and cases are thin on the ground. So when a sobbing Lu Shakespeare appears in his office, he sees a solution to his cash flow worries.

EPISODE 2 - THE CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT
When ominous noises on the roof startle Dora Bentley in the middle of the night she panics and calls out for help. Brusque care home owner Penelope Pincott dismisses her concerns - it was only a bad dream and she’s far more concerned with the mysterious power cuts and inexplicable cockroach infestations.

EPISODE 3 - THIS PROMISED END
Undertaker Peter Quintus leads a quiet and unassuming life with his loving wife Anne. So when he’s visited one morning by two mysterious hitmen who inform him he has just 24 hours to live because of an undisclosed misdemeanour he goes into a tailspin.

EPISODE 4 - THIS ROUGH MAGIC
Old school magician, Lawrence Pross, is in the midst of his grand finale when tragedy strikes and his unlucky volunteer is fatally trapped in his medieval iron maiden. Accused of involuntary manslaughter, Lawrence is reduced to performing cheap tricks to passing tourists.

EPISODE 5 - TOIL AND TROUBLE
When the Mayor of Arden is discovered murdered in his isolated cottage suspicion falls on local criminal, Billy the Brick Porters, but he’s nowhere to be found. DI Marlowe is straight on to Frank’s case: she knows Frank and Billy have history – where would he go to hide out?

EPISODE 6 - EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR
It’s a slow day in the office for Frank and Lu until a hysterical Sally Balthasar flies into the office in a whirlwind of tears – they have to help her, someone’s threatening her and she simply cannot perform under these conditions.

EPISODE 7 - THE FAIREST SHOW MEANS MOST DECEIT
At the detective agency, Frank is ambushed by larger than life American, Martin, who claims to be Frank’s long lost uncle, but Frank chucks him out the office – he knows a conman when he sees one! It’s another day, another workplace injury compensation claim for Frank and Lu.

EPISODE 8 - THE CHAMELEON'S DISH
Awkward teen, Hamish, is plagued with a recurring dream in which he sees the body of a murdered woman but always wakes up before he can learn anything more. He can’t quite work it out, but he’s pretty sure it’s a premonition – he’s terrified he’s going to do something awful, and he needs Frank and Lu to tail him over the weekend and keep him out of trouble.

EPISODE 9 - THE RASCAL COOK
When a dead rat makes an unwelcome appearance on Hiverna restaurant’s menu on their most important evening, head chef Len Tekler is beyond furious – someone is trying to stop him winning Arden Restaurant of the Year and he wants to know who.

EPISODE 10 - ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT
An almighty crash in the middle of the night alarms Lady Tania. On investigation she discovers her rebellious daughter, Mia, is missing along with a precious necklace. Frustrated with her wayward daughter and distraught at the loss of her beloved necklace Lady Bede summons Frank and Lu to her stately home.

Chock full of wonderful actors and beautiful locations combined with humorous script and twisty plots, let alone the fact that both the leads here (Mark Benton and Jo Joyner) are spot on perfect foils for one another, Shakespeare & Hathaway is a real gem of enjoyment from start to finish.

With cute Shakespearean references sprinkled throughout, the show gives the feeling of comfort one bizarrely finds in murder mysteries of this ilk.

Sure they are a wee bit tempered down for daytime/afternoon UK viewing, so there's nothing really that gruesome to unearth, but the way they go about their job is inspiring to us (amateur sleuths) all!

Rounded out with a few middle-class oddballs, a tremendous RADA sidekick and murder scenarios right out of the '60s, what the creators of Shakespeare & Hathaway have lovingly managed to encapsulate here is that feel of the good ol' Enid Blyton days of teen-adventure.

With Season Two having been commissioned and filming begun in September 2018, it seems the next series will be on our screens sometime soon, me thinks. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.