(gentle music) - [Man] Very nice.
- Thank you.
- [James] Russell has written three really individual films this year, all which have their own sense of tone and identity.
Film one starts at the beginning of 1971.
- Hey!
Work harder than that.
- [Shaun] A bomb goes off.
And where was the bomb?
- In the post, looks like.
- Parcel, I should imagine by the-- - This one's concurrent with a football player from Northern Ireland playing for Oxford and there's been a death threat against his life.
- And it's very much about tribalism and the glamour of football and fashion.
- [Sean] Shaun is directing and acting again.
I think I'm not alone in just marveling at his work ethic, his passion, his energy, his commitment.
- Do we know how long he's been there?
- [Man] Been dead about 12 hours.
- Film two is about taxi drivers.
- What's all this?
- That deadly.
- He's been murdered.
- Where thriller meets a nudist colony.
- This is a - Detective Sergeant Strange, Thames Valley.
- An eyeopener in lots of ways.
- [Shaun] There's something about TV in the UK at that time, which Russ has really drawn on for this to carry our films.
- [Roger] And I love the way at the beginning of most episodes.
Russell brings lots of elements in, generally using music of the period really, really well.
- Film three is more of a sort of Agatha Christie murder mystery, where we've take sort of "On the Buses" meets a bit of "Maltese Falcon."
- [Woman] We're nearly there.
- [Shaun] We were working through the nights, with huge snow machines and battling a blizzard.
Again, feels very different in style.
The cases are great, 'cause we get to introduce a new cast, and it's fresh and interesting and fun.
- And the characters, the group of regulars, and their relationships, that's been the most enjoyable thing to do, and the most impressive.
- It's okay, this is Jim.
He's a policeman.
- Hiya Joanie.
- I think there've been some lovely scenes.
You know more than anyone what last year took out of us all.
- Where everything is said, but nothing is said at the same time.
- The beauty of having something which is long running, is that you get to really see these people, and see them in their private, personal moments.
That's when they come alive, isn't it?
I think those are the things that you remember.
(gentle music)
