The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco - review

Teen stumbled across this on Netflix a while back, when scrolling in search of something to watch, so we decided to give it a try together. It's not something I'd usually have chosen - my normal TV tastes run to quiz shows, dancing and cooking reality shows - so a 1950s drama about four codebreakers coming together to solve a series of murders seemed worth a go!

In short, 14 years or so after the end of the Second World War, two of the women who worked as codebreakers at Bletchley Park hear about a murder in San Francisco which matches that of one of their colleagues during the war. What else could they possibly do but fly out there to investigate and see if they can solve the mystery. Using her wartime connections, Jean manages to track down 'Major Sixth', her contact in San Francisco, and soon enough Iris and Hailey are brought on board.

Unlike the reviewer in the Guardian, and rather to my surprise, I found this remarkably watchable - yes, there's murder and some violence, but never particularly extreme or gruesome. The bit about major sixth being a chord that's difficult to improvise on was a bit baffling, and some of the mental leaps which are made as they're 'deciphering' clues are somewhat inexplicable, but overall it was enjoyable enough. Maybe it's just that I watch so little drama that the dialogue didn't feel terrible to me. Or maybe the reviewer was just in a bad mood that day.

Either way, this crime-solving quartet work together to solve a series of mysteries, from the person dumping mutilated dead bodies around a part of town targeted for 'improvement', to the untimely death of a Russian agent. While they each have their own individual skills, they do bring out the best in one another and form a strong friendship.

The Guardian reviewer's criticisms seem to focus mostly on aspects of dialogue which feel somewhat old-fashioned or unreal - but for a series set in the last 1950s, none of the quotes she picked out seemed at all offensive to me. It seems to me to be entirely possible that Jean, the staunch Scottish woman, would have been baffled by a 'french fry', since this is before the days of American fast-food on every street corner and American fries are truly a different creature to real British chips! Yes, some of it may be somewhat overblown and stereotyped - but isn't that the case in just about all dramas?

One of the things I've particularly enjoyed is the inclusion of diverse characters - far from an all-white all-straight lineup, there are black and gay characters in key roles. And while these characteristics are fundamental to their stories, they aren't glossed over or ignored. The violence and discrimination faced by both groups is clearly portrayed, in a way which feels realistic to me at least.

All-in-all, I'd probably give this series a solid 3.5/5 - a far better rating than the Guardian's 1/5. It's not the highest standard ever, but it's definitely enjoyable, with moments of tension balanced by light relief. And a couple of really nice jazz performances to boot!