Stream the original RAKE with Richard Roxburgh to appreciate what tip-top television can achieve

As good as some of our cable television series are, it takes watching a season of the best of interna-tional TV -- Borgen from Denmark, Spiral from France, and now RAKE from Australia -- to fully understand and appreciate of what the medium is actually capable. If this title sounds familiar, it's because Rake was recently re-done for American TV, starring that excellent actor Greg Kinnear. I haven't watched the American version yet because I can't stand sitting through commercials (and even hate having to fast-forward via DVR). So I shall wait until it, too, streams commercial-free via an affordable service such as Netflix -- where you can now see the original version -- before I attempt critical comparison.

As good as Mr. Kinnear has been in just about every role in which I've seen him, it's hard to believe he could outdo one of Australia's best actors, Richard Roxburgh (above, with Adrienne Pickering, and on poster, top), in this intriguing and memorable role. I've been a fan of Roxburgh's since the delightful and underseen Children of the Revolution from 1996, but this is clearly the role he's been waiting for and he knocks it, in episode after episode, to kingdom come.

What makes Rake so important and necessary is that it deals with justice, morality and hypocrisy in a manner that, up till now, nothing else has come close to. Roxburgh plays Cleaver Greene, a barrister always in debt and often about to be disbarred. He gambles, he womanizes (including the wife of his best friend, above, played by Danielle Cormack), he defends clients who appear nearly indefensible -- and yet he's the very legitimate hero of this topsy-turvy series because he is not a hypocrite. He does the wrong thing when it's less important but the right thing when it counts.

The series is written exceedingly well. Almost every episode deals with a different kind of criminal case -- from cannibalism to bigamy to terrorism and laws such as the Aussie version of our sleazy Patriot Act -- and the plots are chockablock with ideas that will quickly knock you on your ass and then make you work your way back to a standing position. (That's Robyn Malcolm, above, who plays the randy woman to whom Cleaver owes both a lot of money and a lot of screwing.)

The series is also hugely funny, often laugh-out-loud so. And it is full of oddball characters whom you'll grow to love as much as you did those on The Mary Tyler Moore Show -- even if these people are a lot more into letting it all hang out. They are all dealing with the problems that face us in these current times -- monetary to political -- as well as those that have dogged us since man and womankind first appeared: infidelity, parenting, owning up to it all. (Above, left, is the commendable Russell Dykstra, who plays Cleaver's semi-partner and best friend, Barney.)

As a terrific bonus, almost all the episodes offer a "guest star" who is one of Australian and/orNew Zealand movie royalty: Hugo Weaving, Jack Thompson, Martin Henderson, Noah Taylor, Toni Collette (shown at left), Rachel Griffiths, and on and on.  Sam Neill, bless his heart, gets an episode that, along with his amazing work in the must-view Dean Spanley, should see him become the go-to actor for anything dog-related.

Each episode, running around 55 minutes, is generally self-contained, but the characters spill over into the entire two seasons that are so far avail-able via Netflix. I hope there will be more. And if the first season is super-ior to the second, there are certain episodes in the latter than are as good as anything you'll find on TV. In fact, Season 2, Episode 2, R v. Fenton (shown below), which tackles, among other things, "Newspeak," is beyond brilliant. (That's Keegan Joyce, above, who plays Cleaver's son, Fuzz.)

I cannot recommend this series highly enough. And you can see it now via Netflix streaming (it's not available on Amazon). Why wait?

Back to streaming: Finishing up Phryne Fisher's 1st season--this series just gets better & better!

Normally TM would just add an addendum onto his earlier post for a TV series he'd seen and enjoyed. But this time, concerning the Australian MISS FISHER'S MURDER MYSTERIES, the series -- which, when he first posted, he'd seen but four episodes and found them both old-fashioned and fun -- his opinion now, after viewing all thirteen programs, is  that this show and its worth grows with each new hour-long mystery. This is ace television in every way: wonderfully old-fashioned yet gloriously new-fangled, too.

Miss Phryne (pronounced fry-knee) Fisher and her splendid crew make us feel like we used to with our favorite TV shows back in the day because all these characters feel like a kind of "chosen family" -- folk we can't wait to spend time with again and again. Which is all the more odd, since almost every episode begins with a murder (these grow ever more bizarre and awful, yet they're usually -- or nearly -- blood-free).

The crimes serve to introduce us to yet another set of characters and a new environment (along with the old cast members we know and grow to love), whether it be magazine publishing of the day (the time is the 1920, the place Melbourne), a high-end house party, Jewish politics and culture (incipient Zionisn don'cha know!), gay and lesbian issues (below), a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta (above), the art world, and the lives of female factory workers, to list merely half of the subjects and themes you'll see when you begin viewing.

The series is a throwback to kinder, gentler times, yes, but it is brought to life with all the skill that cable television today can offer. The cast is exem-plary, the writing sharp & smart, & the direction (often from women whom we're sure to hear more from in the years to come) quite on target for this kind of show. What seems especially fine to me is how the characters take that moment with a glance, a touch, a direct look that manages to say a great deal without dialog. This can sometimes come off as arch -- but not here. Instead it adds an old-fashioned grace note to the goings-on.

Viewing Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries is quite like taking vacation from our current times into something rich, just a little strange, and altogether magical -- mostly because you simply would not imagine that anyone could create anything this delectably enticing in our so often ugly and ironic day and age. (Miss Fisher and her crew could not be more different from that of the dark and piercing Spiral, that unusual French TV series that I also love.)

You can stream the first season of the show now (and please, Netflix, get the resulting season, too!): thirteen hours of Australian television heaven. Or you can purchase the four DVD or Blu-ray set that is distributed here in the USA via Acorn. More, please!

Streaming tip: Aussie MISS FISHER'S MURDER MYSTERIES offers Melbourne in the roaring 20s

Do you remember, if you're old enough, the early American television mystery series Mr. and Mrs. North? If not, maybe younger folk will recall Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote. These may come to mind when watching the nostalgic and much more elaborately designed and costumed Australian television series, MISS FISHER'S MURDER MYSTERIES. Taking place in Melbourne during those roaring 20s (probably a tad less roaring than in New York City or Paris), the series stars the lovely and witty Essie Davis (shown at left and below) as Phyrne (pronounced Fry-knee) Fisher, a woman of the world who has returned to her native Australia to... well, we'll see.

Now streamable via Netflix, this (I've now seen four of the first dozen episodes from season one) wonderfully engaging show features hour-long individual mystery stories linked by the titular Miss Fisher, who solves each one rather in the mode that both Pam North (played with utter delight and cockeyed optimism by the lovely Barbara Britton) and Jessica Fletcher (Ms Lansbury's character) managed to do. The major difference is how much has changed in terms of what can now be discussed and shown on prime-time TV in the 60 years since the Norths investigated and the 30 years since Murder, She Wrote came on the scene. Pam and Jerry North would be shocked at the kind of stuff in which Miss Fisher gets herself involved.

Themes run the gamut from matricide and the Fagin-like "adoption" of orphans to labor unrest and how homosexuality was treated in Australia back in the 20s. Missing sisters figure prominently in some of the episodes, as do religion and the Roman Catholic Church. Yet none of this is bashed home. No: Phryne and her television writers (around 12 of them) and directors (maybe 15 over several seasons) handle it all with aplomb and fun, rather than a heavy hand. Still, it is television, after all. But better, entertainment-wise, than much else we've seen. (I prefer this series over the much-touted Downton Abbey, where there are enough coincidentally overheard conversations to choke the proverbial horse.)

The cinematography here (in hi-def on Netflix) is gorgeous and quite atmospheric, and the costumes are especially fun. (Watch for Phryne's Latvian anarchist outfit in episode four, season one.) Phryne herself is quite a characters: a genuinely good woman, rich as Croesus, but with all the instincts of an honest-to-god progressive, and the captivating Miss Davis brings her to fine life.

The series is great fun, not least because it seems that it actually adds to its regular cast as it moves along, bringing with it all sorts of charming characters: the young maid who was fired by the villain in episode one is then hired by Phryne, and appears thereafter; the orphan (Ruby Rees Wemyss, below) from episode two finds a permanent home with our heroine; and so on.

There is also the very welcome opportunity to see fine actresses we have loved over the years -- Wendy Hughes (in the photo above) and Miriam Margolyes, to name just two -- in roles here. And the interplay between Phryne and the rest of the cast -- her superior butler, charming maid, the shy constable who is so very attracted to that maid, and the rather sexy police inspector (Nathan Page, below) with whom Phryne shares cases and seems somewhat attracted to -- proves consistent and delightful fun.

So, yes, I am hooked and will finish this 13-episode series (Netflix at this point only offers the first season) with great relish. I suggest you at least give it a sampling (try to watch 2 to 3 episodes before you toss in the towel, as they seem to grow better as they go on).