Critic Reviews

The writing was mostly sound and Warren has enough heft to lure me back. Whether it will succeed in this slot for ITV in the same way that Endeavour did is another question.

Each of the three parts of “Van der Valk” is a stand-alone story and will make longtime “Masterpiece” and “Mystery!” fans nostalgic. Van der Valk feels about Old Master paintings the way Inspector Morse felt about opera, and Jane Tennison (“Prime Suspect”) felt about alcohol. Sex is ultimately behind everything. Love is elusive. The plotlines are serpentine. Following them is a fine way of spending part of one’s Sunday night.

Van der Valk is a pure, hard-boiled throwback to the days of Mickey Spillane and Jim Thompson.

He’s taciturn but everyone treats him like a god with a badge. His intuitions are always bang on. He’s just that good. Yet another old trope, but a reliable one.

Marc Warren is a fine actor, and there’s nothing wrong with his VdV except that he just doesn’t fit. ... More unpromising still is the scripting. ... Amsterdam retains its photogenic character and its tawdry charms, and the direction is stylish.

Edgier and grislier than the norm for the franchise. [14 - 27 Sep 2020, p.11]

It’s a serviceable drama with a decent ensemble. ... But there is nothing to raise Van Der Valk above other detective dramas; only the Amsterdam setting marks it out as different.

A weird amount of time is dedicated to Van Der Valk’s new romance, which seems entirely pointless and yet necessitates several cuts to his new squeeze gasping through the episode’s climax, despite us knowing nothing about her. ... There are no surprises here; only eyerolls. Amsterdam looks great, though.

Amsterdam did look nice as the detectives rushed about trying to solve the Baruch Spinoza-themed mystery, but the plot was hokum.

If the scripts and storylines improved, this could be a good show. But when you find yourself neither wondering nor caring about who committed the murder, it’s a bad sign.