To the credit of their industry, British TV detectives skew older than their American counterparts: White-haired, balding, some with grown children, they have been shaped by time — that is, they are unusually centered and mature, or they are creatures of longstanding bad habits. Either way, there is more to them than good hair, a big gun and a fast car. I’m thinking of John Thaw of “Inspector Morse,” Martin Shaw of “George Gently” and John Nettles of “Midsomer Murders” (created by “Foyle’s War” creator Anthony Horowitz).
Helen Mirren was 46 in her first “Prime Suspect,” but over 60 in her last. Kitchen is 61, and though he is small and quiet for a TV cop, he possesses a fearsome decency, not to be swayed by rank or authority, that borders on the superheroic. He’s clear-sighted and dogged, courteous where it’s merited and cutting where it’s not, and it is pure joy to watch him go.
source: Robert Lloyd, LA Times via popmatters.com
“ there is more to them than good hair, a big gun and a fast car. “