The Mind Of JD Reeder
I had a bit of the fear going into watching The Mind Of JD Reeder, not just because whilst you have a fairly solid foundation for a drama with Edgar Wallace stories you have to approach them with, shall I say, one raised eyebrow due to their tendency towards the colonial and the conservative but also because the show stars Hugh Burden.
I don’t want to be mean to old Hugh here, it’s not his fault that due to me only ever really catching him in guest roles, he’s largely forever going to be Channing in Spearhead From Space and that is very much a me problem. He’s so perfect, so sinister, so plastic in the role, I’ve watched it so many times, it colours things. Every other thing I’ve caught him in, it’s all “argh, it’s Channing”.
Fortunately for me, he’s rather wonderful in the role as a mild mannered civil servant with an uncanny knack (this is Edgar Wallace stuff, you don’t go into it expecting thoughtful detective stuff) for putting the fear into the criminal populace and knowing the who and how of a crime before anyone else. Burden’s performance is often comedy gold and is more than enough to keep the show watchable even when it’s either at its most Edgar Wallace and/or indulging in blackface or yellowface casting because it’s the UK and for some reason we were really into doing that shit. What a fucking combination, tells thee.
Thankfully, by the time it’s settled into the second series it’s all on more relaxed ground, well except that one “bloody hell” episode with the magician which is all a bit Talons Of Weng Chiang if you catch my drift (“fuck me, racist”, if you don’t). Aside from that then! Also the writers are clearly having a bit of a laugh at Wallace’s expense by not so subtly hinting throughout the second series that rather than being the straightforward enforcer of the English establishment’s order, Reeder is in fact a bit of a lefty with more of a heart than he lets on. Unremarkable by most standards, for Wallace stuff, it’s positively subversive.
Mainly though, it’s a joy of a show and I largely loved it. Burden is an absolute star, the stories often that perfect ITV mid evening detective TV stuff and cracking fun. Just as with a lot of things from the time, expect that when it does wobble, it fucking wobbles off the scale. If you can put up with that, there’s a lot to enjoy and well, I certainly did.