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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 440162" data-attributes="member: 23">4.01-4.09 + 1986 Christmas Special: Fires In The Fall This series is notable for the big gaps either side. Series Three had ended in February 1984 and the series didn’t resume until October 1985, some twenty months later. And after the end of the regular Series Four episodes, it was then more than a year before Fires In The Fall (since Series Five began just eight days after the special,I do wonder why the special is grouped in with Series Four).The gap might go some way towards explaining the overhaul this year, changes which coming all together feel like a minor reboot. Cast, locations and character dynamics all change. Some, I’m guessing, are due to the unavailability of actors or buildings. Some might be quite deliberate.It’s worth noting that the Series Four opener is only the third episode to be penned solely by creator Robert Banks Stewart. The other two are the very first episode and the Season Two opener, each of which gave us some introductions.While it’s disappointing that there’s no proper exit for characters like Charlotte, this is tempered by the fact that most of the changes are canonical.Susan Young is introduced organically as an estate agent who happens to be helpful in the opening story, leading to romance with Jim. While I remember Louise Jameson well from this series, I still wasn’t sure how I would feel about this. Not only had I liked Jim’s relationship with Marianne, I also was invested in the growing (re-)affection between Jim and Deborah that happened throughout Series Three (well, as invested as possible, given I could see from upcoming episodes it was not going to come to fruition). Watching these episodes back-to-back, without the huge gap between series, it really is jarring to see Jim and Deborah back to snarking at each other once again, despite their hard-won close friendship. It’s very disappointing and feels as though it pees all over a lot of what we’ve seen. Putting this aside, though, the relationship between Jim and Susan is a really good fit for this series. This is Jim’s series, so any relationship has to be complementary and this one is. She’s an equal for Jim without being overpoweringly pushy or being crowbarred into stories (as has happened with earlier romances). In the initial episode, I smiled at the thought that we were going to have a series of stories that suddenly revolved around the world of property in the way that so many Series One stories had to involve the tourism trade and Series Two suddenly saw financial brokerage and that high powered world. Happily this hasn’t really been the case. That first episode aside, the only other episode where Susan’s job was significant was the Christmas special, and that was perfectly acceptable for a haunted house episode. One thing that took me a bit of adjustment was Louise’s accent. I’m so used to her coarser accent in Tenko it felt a little surprising to hear her speaking “posh” (it’s actually not that posh, I’ve realised now I’ve become used to hearing it, but Blanche would probably still think Susan was stuck-up).Susan also finds Jim his new home, which is nice enough and has a gorgeous outlook, but is perhaps not as romantically characterful as his earlier, more rural pad.This isn’t the series’ only move. It’s all change at work, with the Bureau des Étrangers office relocation to the grander, presumably more secluded, Haut de la Garenne (itself involved in a real-life scandal which meant Series Four onwards have not been part of BBC repeats in more recent years). Crozier has a new role as the Chief, and it seems him being Bergerac’s senior is a new development (due to the energy, I’d always assumed he outranked Bergerac anyway). His speech to staff in the first episode references colleagues who haven’t stayed with them as part of the move (implicitly Charlotte and a few regular supporting officers). Stepping into a similar supporting role to that of Charlotte is Peggy. It’s a wise move that her role in the Bureau and the series is slightly different, with her being a more militant character who stays in her lane. She’s a nice enough addition and I’ve tried not to compare.Even Lil has moved. No longer the cheer down home landlady of a rustic boozer, Lil has become queen of the Jersey nightlife with the opening of Lil’s Place, whose Eightieslicious decor is only enhanced by the pumping soundtrack (the last episode I watched saw Jim enter and pace across its red carpet and up the steps to the chrome-plated bar accompanied by The Police’s Every Breath You Take. It was quite magnificent.The stories themselves remain varied and at times compelling. The stakes certainly felt high in the last few episodes. One thing that's been more noticeable throughout Series Four: gawpers. I don't know if it's the series being well-known at this point or the time of year in which it's filmed (this series has certainly looked very summery, apart from the special which is deliberately autumnal) but in a number of location scenes, the streets have been packed with tourists intently watching every moment of filming. Some are even openly taking photographs. It should be irritating, and it is a little distracting, but I find it endearing as well. Watching the watchers has become a fun little layer to my Bergerac viewing.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?