Hamish Macbeth: A Pure Like It!

I discovered Hamish Macbeth, a Police Constable in a small village in Scotland, at my local public library. I started listening to M.C. Beaton's books on tape that featured him as a main character. He's gruff individualist and a brilliant detective. He shuns credit for his work, lest he be transferred to the city, Inverness, and be forced to leave his comfortable country lifestyle, where there is little crime and plenty of fishing and camping. I've probably read a dozen or so of the Hamish Macbeth stories as well as Beaton's Agatha Raisin mysteries, which are also wonderful.

Last Saturday, I was delighted to discover that the BBC had made a TV series out of at least one of these characters. Hamish Macbeth, the show, is wonderful. It's full of great scenery, local color and compelling stories. One episode in particular, Wee Jock's Lament, was spooky and supernatural without breaking the bounds of believability. And Robert Carlyle is great in this show. I've sort have been luke-warm on his performances in the past, but he owns this role.

The story lines in the video do not seem to follow any of the books, but that is fine with me. This character is so well-defined and likeable that I welcome the new adventures. It seems that all of his quirks have been carried over to the show: his loyalty to his dog, his dead-on sense of right and wrong, his commitment to the village, his gentle treatment of the villagers, his bristling under the subordination of the detectives higher up the chain of command. It's yummy.

I hope that the library offers more than just season one. I don't think it ran for more than two or three years. My library has such an odd and eclectic set of DVD's to loan, including two copies of The Passion of the Christ (seriously, WTF?). And at my little branch, most of the movies are still on VHS format. So there is not much to choose from. But, bless them, they buy everything the BBC has to offer. And I'm there to gather them up and watch them for free. But when the pact ends, I'm buying all seasons of the Hamish Macbeth mysteries.