Going Gently Into the Future

Courtesy of Karen Meek’s Euro Crime blog comes news that familiar English actor Martin Shaw, who portrayed P.D. James’ detective Adam Dalgliesh in the British teleflicks Death in Holy Orders and The Murder Room, and who’s been starring in the BBC’s Judge John Deed series since 2001, now intends to take on yet another crime-fighter’s role. This time it’s East Anglian copper George Gently, the character developed over almost 50 novels by Alan Hunter, who died in February 2005.

Britain’s Guardian reports that “Martin Shaw is very keen to do this new drama, and if it gets the green light, which is very likely, Judge John Deed will undoubtedly come to an end.” Oh, well. Every actor needs new challenges, and the pipe-smoking Inspector Gently, who was introduced in 1955’s Gently Does It and is said to have resembled his creator, might just be ideal for the 61-year-old Shaw.