Maisie Raine (1998–1999) User Reviews

More than just another TV cops and robbers drama

[ygwerin1 · 7/10 · 2 October 2020]

Just watching an episode of this show on the Drama TV Channel, its a programme I have not as yet seen that much of.

Before seeing her in this show I had really only seen Pauline Quirk, in the TV comedy Birds of a Feather.

I have glimpsed other stuff she has been involved in, but never bothered to watch any of them.

In this character Quirke gets to stretch herself a bit, with the opportunity to showcase rather more of her acting abilities.

She works well in the environs really blending into the scenery, such that she is that character.

It's a fine ensemble cast giving me a chance to spot the face, and try to remember what were they in.

All in all its different enough as a detective show to draw me in to the tales, the lead character has enough foibles combined with a disfunctional family member.

Another point that I particularly like about it is that, each episode is only around an hour long with adverts.

Which means that they are concise with no extraneous guff, that in a two hour show can get added to pad out a poor story.

There are just so many TV detective shows scattered across the television schedules in the UK, more than you can shake the proverbial stick at.

Which certainly seems to be a sign of the current times, compared to when I was much younger in the 1950's and 60's.

When police related TV dramas were much fewer and further between, combined with less channels made it seem to stand out.

Maisie pulls it off........

[ianlouisiana · 8/10 · 15 August 2016]

Set in slightly less politically aware times,"Maisie Raine" has attitudes more sensitive souls may find questionable but it is not afraid to confront issues the Met has always been keen to hide under the floorboards,i.e. so - called "noble cause corruption",questionable obtaining of evidence,jealousy and open dislike between various arms of the detective branch and abuse of power. Ms Raine herself is a Detective Inspector in a gloomy west London police station.Part mother - hen,part virago,she keeps her brood of junior officers under a tight rein whilst living alone in a frankly crap flat so that she seems almost pleased to get the midnight phone call that only too often drags her from her bed to a murder scene. Shes not only battling the local ne-er do wells,most of whom she knows by their first names(always the sign of a good copper)but also the hierarchy of the Met that,certainly in 1998 and probably today, is suspicious and hostile on the whole towards senior female officers who have shown that they are more than equal to the task assigned them. The Police Consultant on the show will have been more than aware of this as a former D.I on the Drug Squad,an organisation that is not particularly sympathetically portrayed in this series. The formidable Miss Pauline Quirke plays D.I. Raine and is completely convincing as a career copper who has bounced against the glass ceiling too often,not having the right accent,the right education,not trying to screw her way to the top or simply not having a dick. Steve John Shepherd excels as her protégé DC from whom she is careful to hide her soft spot. This is not a game - changing cop show,no envelopes are harmed during the making of this series,but it is good old - fashioned TV viewing with both light and dark moments,authentic settings and that unfakeable air that comes from having someone on board that knew what she was talking about.