Run Time: 11 Hours 3 Minutes, with 13 episodes each approximately 50 minutes in length

The television series Randall and Hopkirk (deceased), created by Dennis Spooner was first aired in the United Kingdom in September 1969. Sadly in March 1970 the series was cancelled. As a result there were a total of 26 episodes aired during its year's initial debut. Well a little over 30 years later A&E brings the first 13 episodes of the series to the United States on DVD, though the series has aired as My Partner the Ghost. Later in 2004 we'll see the release of the last 13 episodes.

The basis of the story gets laid out in the first episode. Jeff Randall (Mike Pratt) and Marty Hopkirk (Kenneth Cope) are great friends and naturally they work together. Randall and Hopkirk are partners who work as private investigator's in the office of Randall and Hopkirk. After receiving an inquiry from a wealthy woman Fay Sorrensen, the office of Randall and Hopkirk take on a job to find out if her husband John has been cheating on her. After an unfortunate success, Randall reveals that Mr. Sorrensen has been cheating on his faithful wife. Fear at this prospect, Mrs. Sorrensen decides that the best option is to divorce him. While this wouldn't be the worst thing for the ever-so-playboy, Mr. Sorrensen doesn't seem to actually own any of the assets in the marriage. So if Mrs. Sorrensen divorces him, he'll be left with nothing and his life as a golden playboy will be over.

In order to take care of business, Mr. Sorrensen hires a hit man to fake his wife's death by instigating a death by electrocution, since apparently she suffers from a heart condition. Meanwhile since Randall did the work he sends his partner Hopkirk to collect the fee. When Hopkirk goes off to meet Mrs. Sorrensen he unfortunately finds that she's been dead. After the medical examiner shows up, he concludes that it was in fact a misfortunate natural death. Hopkirk isn't quite convinced and starts snooping around. During which Mr. Sorrensen arrives to find him. The husband being investigated feels no obligation to pay his late wife's debts and demands that he leave the premise. Realizing that Hopkirk maybe on to him, he calls his hit man friend to make Hopkirk deceased.

After Hopkirk's murder both his wife Jeanie Hopkirk (Annette Andre) and Randall are devastated. Moving along in life, Jeanie takes up her late husband's position in the office. However Hopkirk is quite determined to find his true killer and refuses to follow life into the after world. Once returned only Randall can see and hear his late partner. Well the series goes on with Randall and Hopkirk (deceased) outsmarting the Godfather's of forensic science at Scotland Yard as they find themselves in minor quirky cases which turn out to be filled with some of the most diabolic plots with murder, deceit, and of course the supernatural.

The DVD

Spoken Languages: English

Subtitles: None

Mechanics:
This television miniseries is presented on 4 dual-layered DVD's. Each DVD features direct episode navigation with direct chapter menu access. Disc 1 contains Episodes 1-4 and the special features. Disc 2 and 3 contain Episodes 5-7 and 8-10 respectively. The final disc, Disc 4 contains Episodes 11-13. The extra features are located on Disc 4.

Video:
This feature is presented in its original television aspect of 4:3 ratio full frame color. Considering that the transfer comes from some medium created in late 1960 and early 1970, it looks quite good. The picture is fairly grain with minor color distortions. Pretty much it looks like what you'd find on your television. While not perfect, all things considering it is still decent for viewing.

Sound:
The audio in this feature is presented in English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo sound. The audio is quite easy to hear throughout the feature. However the audio contains a very slight hiss. The British accents are fairly light and easily understood. I recently reviewed a British television miniseries, To Serve Them All My Days [reviews], which was very good, but I had a little difficulty with some of the accents. So I feel this is worth mentioning.

Subtitles:
There are no subtitles presented in this feature, nor is it closed caption enabled. Sorry for the hearing impaired and those like me who oddly have no hearing issues, but aren't comfortable without them.

Extras:
The extras included in this feature are fairly slim. The first is a Photo Gallery of various screen shots from each episode. The next extra is a Biography & Filmography of the two main actors, Kenneth Cope and Mike Pratt. Last but not least, we are presented with a 45 minute long episode from the History Channel's series, the Haunted History: London.

Final Thoughts:
I was initially attracted to this television series because I have enjoyed other detective-like dramas such as Law & Order Special Victims Unit – The First Year [review], NYPD Blue Season 1 [review], or NYPD Blue Season 2 [review]. However you won't find the same intensity you'll find in those television series in Randall and Hopkirk (deceased). This television series tends to fall a bit into two categories of drama and comedy. The cases that Randall and Hopkirk touch upon aren't quite that serious at first, but lead to larger cases that the Scotland Yard most likely would have dealt wish initially. However Randall having the deceased Hopkirk on his side, they tend to be able to under mysteries that forensic science wouldn't be able to undercover alone. Anyways after watching the first few episodes I was greatly intrigued with entertainment. I really looked forward to seeing the next episodes, but gradually I found that each episode was fairly redundant. The intensity of each scene was truly gripping and the comedy seemed to be severely repeated, being that Randall always got hit on the head and knocked out, while Hopkirk tries to waken him. Similarly the series plays off on a small joke of Randall talking to Hopkirk and since only Randall can see and hear him, he looks a bit of a fool in public.

Some of this series more notable funny/entertaining episodes featured Randall being stuck in a mental ward under the hypnotic power of a thieving doctor and a delightful episode full of beauties as Randall and Mrs. Hopkirk are responsible for some beauty pageant participants and keeping their person's safe. Anyways this series definitely has its entertaining value and I'm tempted to give it a recommendation of recommended, but on the whole as far as comedy/dramas go there's quite a lot better stuff out there. Nevertheless it is still entertaining and I suggest you check it out as a rental. The try before you buy policy is a very good idea here, but most likely if you enjoy one episode, you'll love the rest.