Gently to the Summit
by Alan Hunter (Cassell, 1961); audiobook read by Andrew Wincott (Magna House, 2014)
Gently is an outlier in detective fiction, focussing less on clues and procedure and more on the resonance of each mystery. Hunter gives him a brooding melancholy and an almost mystical approach to interviewing persons of interest. Wincott’s reading captures the spirit.
George Gently, Series Eight
created by Peter Flannery (BBC, 2017)
A well-judged end to a series that maintained its standards throughout, moving year-by-year through the 1960s and developing its characters without ever pushing them beyond reason. Gently and Bacchus are one of the great pairings, and DS Coles adds to their dynamic.
Gently Through the Mill
by Alan Hunter (Cassell, 1958); audiobook read by Andrew Wincott (Bagna House, 2012)
Gently is an intriguing detective — prone to brooding self-doubt — and Alan Hunter gives readers an unusual degree of access to his musings and methods. The mystery is much what viewers of the (subsequent) TV series might expect, solidly narrated by Andrew Wincott.
George Gently, Series 6
(BBC, 2014)
Six series have taken Inspector Gently and DS Bacchus through to 1969 (with backdrops such as urban renewal and mine closure), their dynamic becoming less edgy but given an extra dimension now by the introduction of WPC Coles across four murder investigations.
George Gently, Series 1
(BBC, 2007-2008)
A serious police drama in three feature-length episodes, notable for its 1960s North-East English setting as much as the criminal investigations depicted. Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby strike up an immediate and singular dynamic as the eponymous Inspector and his impetuous DS.