Embrace the chaos
Dirk Gently is a 'holistic detective', created by the late Douglas Adams, loosely brought to life for BBC television in the form of Stephen Mangan. I say loosely because Stephen Mangan in no ways embodies the physical appearance of the character as described by the author. Nor does he have an adventure involving a time machine, which is the premise of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, the novel to first introduce the detective.
A pilot aired in late 2010, and having seen Stephen Mangan in the wonderful sitcom Green Wing, I watched it, but wasn’t particularly impressed. I haven’t read the books or heard the radio version featuring Harry Enfield, but I suspect that the BBC TV team were trying too hard to tie into that time-travelling original story without the actual time travel. However the pilot did do well enough that a series of three episodes was commissioned, and the first of them aired on BBC4 yesterday evening.
Dirk makes a virtue of chaos whilst investigating things tangentially, due to the ‘fundamental interconnectedness of all things’. He drives a very beaten-up, old, brown Austin Princess and uses ‘Zen navigation’ to get around the city. He boasts to be a detective so discreet than even his own clients don’t think he’s working for them. :-) It is, I should add, intended to be a comedy. In these respects, even without the time travel element, it is very Adamsian.
Maybe the scripted material is better than that of the pilot. Maybe now I can just appreciate more the fun in this anti-Sherlock, who with his scruffy unfashionable dress, and wild dark curly mop, is an un-groomed, slightly feral version of the decidedly upper-class Holmes brother. Dirk's dump of an office may mirror Sherlock’s untidiness, but does not have the benefit of a good London postal address. Or a housekeeper landlady - although he does have a very surly secretary whom he never pays. Gently’s sidekick Richard MacDuff is no less put upon, experimented upon, and yet depended upon, than John Watson, and there is good banter between the two. Of further interest and amusement, the Lestrade equivalent character, a certain gleefully vindictive DI Gilks, is played by Jason Watkins who was the vampire policeman in Being Human. Ha! Can never see that actor without expecting him to be evil. This casting works well.
Whatever the reason for my change of heart about the programme, I really found it quite an amusing watch last night - although I cannot help but suspect that there is a certain cashing-in on the coat-tails of Sherlock success afoot. When at one point Dirk actually shouted 'Boring!' I cringed a little, but otherwise the comparisons of similarity can be forgiven as inevitable to any crime-solving partnership duo. Without a salmon of doubt I will tune in to watch the next two programmes if I can. Next week guest-stars Bill Paterson, who is always good value. :-)