The Broker's Man (TV Series 1997–1998) - The Broker's Man (TV Series 1997–1998) - User Reviews - IMDb
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(1997–1998)

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6/10
Interesting Adventures of an Insurance Investigator
jeffhanna329 August 2015
This show is a pleasant surprise, at least the first season. After reading the exceedingly negative first review here I wasn't expecting much. The first three episodes, which comprise season 1, are quite interesting. The casts are first rate, with familiar faces from other shows. The acting is good. Kevin Whately comes off well and is more three-dimensional than his character in "Lewis." The show is a combination of intriguing investigative mystery with some domestic drama and romantic entanglements. Admittedly, Whately is not really believable as a babe-magnet.

A noticeable drop-off in quality in the second season - some of the story lines are silly. Try season 1 and approach season 2 with caution.
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8/10
Great Show - Good Acting, Good Writing, and Intesting and innovative Plots
ssorens-6696020 January 2016
We watch Acorn TV all the time, and have been watching British shows almost daily for about 17 years. Thankfully we 'stumbled' on this show, "The Broker's Man recently. Besides Kevin Whately looking like a cousin of Paul McCartney, he is a great actor and brings energy to the show. We've watched three 90 minute episodes so far now and we DO NOT find it boring in the least. Even though he is an insurance man, there is often a murder or two involved and incorporates subplots as well. We are still scratching our heads on why they only made 2 seasons. We did notice that it was co-produced by Brian True-May who also produced Midsomer Murders. which, coincidentally, started the same year as the Broker's man did. Maybe that had something to do with it.

I would not say this is as good as Midsomer Murders, BUT This show IS A very good and is definitely worth a watch.
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6/10
Interesting, but ultimately flawed
charles-p-hall11 December 2016
Having just watched all six episodes of this show and also watching "Morse" and "Lewis", I feel compelled to write a review. It's not clear to me why this appeared to be a good vehicle for Whately, who is so obviously born to play a copper. The insurance investigator angle does give them an opportunity for more plot variety, but they rarely take advantage of it. Things usually devolve to a murder case which is solved in the requisite 1-hour time period.

So what's good about it? The acting is fine. All the characters are capable actors and actresses. Even with a change in some of the cast with season two, the losses and additions even out and the ensemble still works. Almost all of the plots are interesting and most of them make some kind of sense. This is all good.

Now the bad... the Jimmy Griffin character is saddled with not just a girlfriend, but also a wife and two kids. While not fatal to a show like this, it turns out not to add very much either. In particular, the writers had no clue about how to handle his wife's role. In each episode she is given a different clichéd script. First the angry, jealous wife. Then in later episodes the "why can't you have a regular job" role, then "how dare you endanger my children" and finally to neutral bland housewife. There is no consistency or logic to any of her actions. In each episode she is a different character! I'm amazed she was able to handle it as well as she did.

For us Kevin Whately fans these are worth a look, don't be put off by the first episode which includes a lot of the wife screaming and domestic tribulations, nor by the last episode which appears not to have had proper writers at all. But on the whole you'll come away wishing they had skipped this show and done a couple more "Lewis" episodes.
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2/10
Lame and Unwatchable Kevin Whatley Series
lank-12 November 2014
Kevin Whatley disappoints in this boring and lame series featuring an insurance investigator. Nothing works in this series. It has unresolved plot lines and overall bad acting. And, its theme tune which is so evidently a ripoff from 'careless whispers', is just plain bad. Lasting just 2 seasons, this show is also badly directed and contains more domestic drama than actual mystery.

This show is nothing like Morse or even Lewis. As an investigator, Griffin is clueless. This only reason why Whatley stills gets roles is because of Morse's legacy.

I would not recommend this series.

2/10
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2/10
Snooze Fest
BILLYBOY-1030 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Wow. An hour and a half for a 27 minute mediocre show. Boring as all get out, waste of Whatley's talent (glad he later redeemed himself with the excellent "Lewis"). The life of an insurance adjuster is not a very exciting premise for what is suppose to be a mystery show, and of course, the only mystery is how this dog ever made it to TV. There are apparently 12 episodes. I watched one and that was enough. The episodes drag and way way too much fluff. A couple of knee-slapping side-kicks and yuk-yuk ha-ha thrown in but nothing could really ever save this from extinction. Whatley does a good job of pitching in and trying to keep the ball rolling but frankly this thing was D.O.A and without his star-power wouldn't have lasted more than 3 episodes before the plug was mercifully pulled.
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9/10
It's a good show.
linsnowden5 December 2020
I enjoyed it. It is not a "mystery" series and it's not meant to be. But it is enjoyable escapism......with clean language and content for a change!
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