Saturday 12 October 2019

'Spiral' returns

Nick and Sue stayed overnight in a dog-friendly AirBnB on Romilly Road, and breakfasted at the Brod Danish cafe nearby. This allowed us to have a lie-in before we met up to take Digby for another walk down to the weir and back before lunch and their return trip to Edinburgh. 

Llandaff Fields was hosting 'Cardiff Cross Challenge', a huge junior outdoor athletics meeting with races around a 3km long circuit around the park for children of different age groups from schools and athletic clubs. There were hundreds of children and parents milling around, watching, consuming refreshments or queuing in an orderly for one the dozen portaloos on site. There was an assortment of stalls, selling kit, promoting membership, selling food and drink, all of which had arrived and been set up, along with an enclosure for running events in the past twenty four hours. It's a pity the ground was still sodden by this week's rain. It'll look terrible for weeks to come. Still, it's for a good cause.

After a brisk walk, down to the river and around Pontcanna Fields, we returned, consigned Digby to his bed in the back of the car. The Nick and Sue took us to Heaney's restaurant in Romilly Crescent for lunch. The decor is distinctly minimalist, and the gourmet nouvelle cuisine menu is equally so. Even with an explanation from our waiter, we found it hard to understand the various menu options. 

The dishes I chose were tasty enough but the portions were small. I an additional plate of veg and some french fries would have satisfied my appetite, as we normally eat in the middle of the day. It's a pity we didn't go to Stefano's, a few doors up the street instead, but Sue was intrigued with the style and setting of Heaney's, and  was keen to try it, a good enough reason reason for going there.

We returned home for coffee and a slice of Clare's bara brith, then Nick and Sue too their leave of us and headed back to Scotland. In the evening BBC Four screened the first double episode of French crimmie 'Spiral', with a same lead actors playing Parisian detectives, judge d'instruction, and a bunch of dodgy lawyers. The series has been running for fourteen years, two years less than the original US top rated NCIS. I think 'Spiral' has killed off fewer key characters over the years too. Season seven opens up with the murder of a senior cop who has overseen the careers of Laure and Gilou down the years. The investigation trail uncovers a huge protection and money laundering racket. Promising!

With a much grander budget and global demand NCIS has screened seventeen series with 381 episodes, only a handful of them double episodes. There have been fewer story-line threads linking certain episodes. The eighth series of 'Spiral' is currently screening on French networks only, and there have been seventy six episodes altogether, but each series is bound together by a narrative thread which is much tighter and more complex. Subtitling for non Francophone audiences leads to a much longer cycle between releases, but it's always worth the wait. Beautifully filmed with superb acting and strong plots, relevant, never fanciful. Saturday evening excitement and interest as autumn turns to winter is guaranteed!
  

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