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Zodiac: The Complete Series (TV)
R2 - United Kingdom - Network Review written by and copyright: Paul Lewis (11th December 2009). |
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The Show
 UnsetZodiac (Thames, 1974) 
Created by Jacqueline Davis and Roger Marshall for Thames Television, Zodiac was a series very much of its time, tapping into the growth of New Age beliefs and the popularisation of astrology (and other esoteric traditions) during the 1960s and throughout the 1970s. The series focuses on David Gradley (Anton Rodgers), a police detective who enlists the help of astrologer Esther Jones (Anouska Hempel) to solve his cases. During their first meeting, in ‘Death of a Crab’ (in which Gradley investigates the murder of Jones’ husband), Gradley is initially skeptical of Jones’ astrological talents, but throughout the series’ six episodes he increasingly learns to accept her conclusions. In the developing relationship between Gradley and Jones, whose methods and worldviews are at first glance in conflict with one another, Zodiac anticipates later shows such as The X Files (Fox, 1993-2002), which also explored New Age beliefs and teamed a ‘believer’ with a ‘skeptic’. 
Slightly quirky in its delivery and clearly studio-bound, each episode of Zodiac is, aside from its deployment of astrology, structured like a conventional procedural drama, opening with a crime and focusing on Gradley and Jones' attempts to solve it. Gradley uses the conventional methods associated with television detectives – interviewing witnesses, deductive logic – and Jones deploys her psychic abilities. In its references to the supernatural, Zodiac is in marked contrast to some of the other, more ‘earthy’ 1970s series for which Roger Marshall was writing scripts – for example, Public Eye (ABC, 1965-8; Thames, 1969-75). However, in the flirtatious relationship between the straight-laced Gradley and Anouska Hempel's Esther Jones – a character who is the embodiment of various New Age beliefs – Zodiac offers a dynamic between its principal protagonists that may be compared to the pairing of John Steed (Patrick Macnee) with Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) and, later, Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) in The Avengers (ABC, 1961-9), a series for which Marshall regularly contributed scripts during the 1960s. 
Although the basic premise of the series may seem to suggest a simplistic opposition between the conservative forces of law and order and the dynamic potential offered by New Age beliefs (which during the early 1970s were still vaguely associated with youth culture and the counterculture), the reality is somewhat different. In his first introduction to Jones, Gradley acknowledges the stereotypes associated with his profession by jokingly telling Jones that ‘Times are changing. We [the police] no longer sport blue serge and silver buttons’. However, Rodgers plays Gradley as the archetypal straight-laced Englishman, delivering his lines with a sardonic sense of humour: in the first episode, Gradley asks Jones, ‘Shouldn’t you be in gypsy kit, polishing your crystal ball? [….] I just think it's [astrology is] a load of old Taurus, with respect’. By contrast, Hempel is a weak foil for Rodgers: her Esther Jones is attractive but dry and occasionally irritatingly smug. Jones’ contributions to Gradley’s investigations are often qualified with an assertion that astrology is neither a means by which to predict the future or an accurate method of deducing the identity of the antagonists: whilst an interesting concept, the scripts seem to lack confidence in their attempts to integrate Jones’ psychic talents into what is essentially a procedural drama. Jones’ key dialogue is often shrouded in the same type of vague discourse and over-generalised reasoning that characterises astrology columns in popular newspapers – thus her character rarely seems to make a valid contribution to Gradley’s investigations or enable Gradley to reach a conclusion that he could not have reached via more traditional methods, despite Jones’ attempts to establish the validity of her unconventional approach to crime-solving (‘What’s the difference?’, she asks Gradley at one point: ‘Palmists look at palms, and policemen look at fingers’.) In effect, Jones' astrological musings have a similar effect to the use of scientific discourse in modern forensic-themed series such as CSI (CBS, 2000- ): the specialised language sometimes excludes the viewer from the internal logic of the detective process, resulting in the resolutions sometimes feeling a little rushed and incomplete. 
Regardless of Zodiac’s uneven handling of the integration of astrology into policework, the scripts for these six episodes display the kind of dry wit that characterises much of Roger Marshall’s work: in ‘The Cool Aquarian’, Michael Gambon tells George Baker, ‘Have you ever spoken to the police? It’s a very long, drawn-out process, like playing slow-motion ping-pong’. Episodes: Disc One: 1. ‘Death of a Crab’ (51:04) 2. ‘The Cool Aquarian’ (51:06) 3. 'The Strength of the Gemini' (52:27) 4. 'Saturn's Rewards' (52:51) Disc Two: 5. ‘Sting, Sting Scorpio’ (49:57) 6. ‘The Horns of the Moon’ (49:38) 
Video
Shot on videotape, Zodiac displays the aesthetic qualities of that medium: there are flared highlights, and the image has an overall ‘softness’ in comparison with contemporaneous series that were recorded on film. However, the transfer to DVD is remarkably good: the episodes display very little wear-and-tear, with occasional tape damage evidenced in some of the episodes. 
The episodes are presented in their original broadcast screen ratio of 4:3, and the original break bumpers are intact. The episodes also appear to suffer from no edits.
Audio
Audio is presented via a two-channel mono track. This is clear and problem-free. Dialogue is always audible. There are no subtitles.
Extras
There are no extra features.
Overall
A lightweight series, Zodiac is fun but not particularly ground-breaking. Its teaming of a detective with an astrologer is inspired, and the series features very strong performances from Rodgers (in particular) and from the many recognisable guest stars throughout all of the episodes contained in this set, including Peter Vaughan and Ian Ogilvy (‘Saturn’s Rewards’), Michelle Dotrice (‘The Horns of the Moon’), Michael Gambon and George Baker (‘The Cool Aquarian’), Robert Powell (‘Sting, Sting Scorpio’) and John Rhys Davies (‘Death of a Crab’). However, Esther Jones' astrological musings too often seem to be used as a form of misdirection – providing the scripts with a 'way out' from explaining how the crimes are solved. The scripts also fail to convincingly integrate the world of astrology into its procedural plots. Nevertheless, fans of more light-hearted, quirky crime dramas may find much to enjoy in this eccentric series. Zodiac: The Complete Series is a web exclusive, only available from Network Releasing’s website. For more information, please visit the homepage of Network DVD.
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