Professor T

    For a while now, I have been watching the original Professor T. from Belgium on PBS. I came in late to the series, and have missed episodes for one reason or another. I keep hoping I will find the series on DVD, but so far, no luck. That is part of the reason why I was interested when I found out PBS was going to air a British version of the show. It could possibly fill in some holes for me, or it may not do that at all.

    DC Lisa Donckers (Emma Naomi) needs help. She is certain a recent rape is connected to another from five years before. Instead of taking her suspicions to her higher-ups, she takes them to her past criminology professor, Jasper Tempest (Ben Miller).

Photo of DVD cover taken by Kate Dorsey

    Despite what Lisa presents to him, Professor T is reluctant to help. Not because he thinks Lisa is wrong, but because he is uninterested.

    Professor T is a man who walks around with rubber gloves on his hands, frequently sanitizes, and has very poor social skills. In his mind, everybody is stupid, other than himself. He even goes so far as to picture his students as chickens. That’s why when someone proves his theory about others wrong, it unnerves him.

    Eventually Lisa does convince Professor T to help with the case. This does not go over well with her boss, DI Paul Rabbit (Andy Gathergood). His boss, DCI Christina Brand (Juliet Aubrey), is fine with the idea. Especially, as it brings someone from her past back into her life.             

    Professor T and Christina were to be married at one point in time. She knows his deductive abilities. After successfully helping with the first case, Christina asks Professor T to become a regular police consultant.

    As a consultant, Professor T must split his time between his cases and his work at the university. This doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem. Professor T does pretty much what he wants to anyways. He’s always in trouble with the dean (Douglas Reith) over something. His secretary, Ingrid Snares (Sarah Woodward), constantly has a sour look on her face.

    Not that I blame her. Dealing with Professor T, I probably would too. It’s a good thing Ms. Snares is able to get her little digs in from time to time. Otherwise, I don’t know how she would survive.

    Back at the police station, Lisa is often the one to take the lead in the investigations. She is frequently paired with DC Dan Winters (Barney White), a man who would love to have a romantic relationship with Lisa.

    Lisa is understandably hesitant to start anything official with Dan. She has her career to think about. She also has a father at home who is struggling with Alzheimer’s. Neither of these leave her much room to form a relationship.

    Dan does not give up, though. He eventually convinces Lisa to go on an official date with him. Despite looking forward to the date, Lisa ends up sending a friend in her place. Dan is naturally upset, but little does he know, Christina insinuated a threat of transfer if Lisa were to pursue the relationship.

    I found the storyline of this date very irritating. Not because of the date itself. I wanted that to happen. It was because of Christina’s interference. She was willing to let Rabbit’s use of alcohol on the job slide, but threated Lisa when Lisa wanted to see where a relationship with Dan could go. Yes, the relationship could have been against the rules, but I’m pretty sure drinking on the job is too. Christina was hypocritical to overlook one and not the other.

    Rabbit’s alcohol use stemmed from the death of his daughter. Everyone knew about it, but didn’t say anything. It isn’t until Lisa has had enough and Professor T backs her up that the situation is brought into the light. Only then does Christina actually do something about it. Which is for the best. Rabbit takes time off and comes back a much more positive man.

    Positive is not going to be something to describe Professor T anytime soon. Positivity is not in his nature. A traumatic past helps him be that way too. It all leads to him creating strained relationships with everyone, including his mother (Frances de la Tour).

Putting the Pieces Together/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

    There are only six episodes of the British Professor T, while the Belgian version has thirty-nine over three seasons. The cases the British version takes are not an exact copy of the ones from Belgium, but they are very similar. As are the characters, but each actor brings a little something different to each one.

    One storyline I hope is changed is what happens between Lisa and Dan. (Warning! If you don’t want to know what may possibly happen, stop reading here.) In the Belgian version, the characters are Annelies Donckers (Ella Leyers) and Daan De Winter (Bart Hollanders). They get together, but break up after Daan is shot, at Daan’s insistence. I want to see Lisa and Dan together in the British version, but I don’t want Dan to get shot, and I don’t want them to break up because of it. At the moment, they are not together, so I don’t know which direction the show will take.