Harry Wild: Series 2 – DVD Review
By Karl Hornsey
Following a long and varied career, Jane Seymour has recently found herself in an altogether different, and rather unexpected, role in crime drama series Harry Wild. Despite only first airing in 2022, the show is already onto a third series, and this DVD from Acorn TV features all six episodes from series two, as well as some behind-the-scenes footage that fans will love, with Harry Wild already proving a great success.
There are many reasons for this, but Seymour’s somewhat out-of-character role as the former professor-turned-private investigator is right up there. Now into her 70s and having starred in several period dramas, Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman and, of course, in Bond film Live and Let Die, Seymour seems to be having a huge amount of fun as the titular character here, playing against type as the wisecracking, and occasionally foul-mouthed, PI. She is joined in her various investigations by Fergus, played by youngster Rohan Nedd, who fans of Acorn productions will be familiar with from his role in another relatively light crime-solving series, Whitstable Pearl.
“Ongoing threads”
Instead of the beautiful coastal scenery of Kent, Harry Wild is filmed and set in Ireland, but also makes the most of the incredible views and countryside, along with the streets of Dublin, where Harry’s son works as a police detective. As with the first series, each episode features a separate case, while ongoing threads run right the way through, with cases including that of a woman disappearing from a village with a history of devil worship, a poisoning at a bachelorette party and the murder of the owner of a boxing gym.
There’s a familiar feel to the series and it’s got Acorn written all over it, as they’re fast becoming experts at this sort of thing, but rather than coming across as generic and formulaic, Harry Wild succeeds, in part, due to the strong and believable characterisations. Everyone has seen the ‘something something with a troubled past-turned detective’ before, and plots and characters can often be caricatures with cliched scripts, but there’s no danger of that in this instance. Perhaps it’s the continuing novelty of seeing Seymour in such a role, or the strength of the supporting cast and the way they spark off each other, but this series simply works. With quality in front of and behind the camera, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if series three is followed by many more, and that’s something that fans will surely flock to.
‘Harry Wild’ Series 2 is on DVD and digital