The Bletchley Circle: Cracking a Killer's Code [Blu-ray]

Almost too thrilling, and wonderful period details
I was especially interested in The Bletchley Circle because my mother was a code breaker for the US counterpart. Unlike the British protagonists, who for security reasons are required to tell everyone (even their husbands) that they did only "clerical work" during the war, my mother was allowed to state her occupation, although without many details. She did convey to me the intellectual challenges, the excitement, the camaraderie, and the feeling of making a valuable contribution that pervaded the large room where the code breakers worked long hours, just as in this movie. Like the protagonist Susan, my mother was extremely good at anagrams, crosswords, and other puzzles, but complained that the vast majority of those published were not hard enough. She also loved to read murder mysteries.

However, my mother returned to her academic career, whereas Susan has dutifully become a housewife. By 1952, Susan loves her husband and her two small children, she does her best, but...

Intelligent thriller
With a superb ensemble cast and exceptionally fine design, this is a series worth savouring. The problems for women emerging into grey, dreary, suburban 1950s England after performing life-and-death intelligence work during the war is all too believable. As the murders mount up and clues are pieced together like code-breaking by this group of brilliant but quirky women, the refusal of senior police to believe them or take them seriously becomes hair-raising. Recommended for those who like unusual, well acted suspense.

good british thriller
Centers around a group of women who shared wartime experiences decoding German military messages at Bletchley Park during WWII. Ten years later, back in the mainstream as 'ordinary' housewives and women, and having to deny their past due to the Official Secrets Act, a series of murders brings them back together.

They are fascinated by the patterns they are trained to spot in the killer's habits. They are, of course, poo-poo'd by their husbands and police, so they go it on their own -- with certain degrees of danger and difficulty.

A cracking good tale, with a top-notch cast that enjoys each other's company. The best sort of British TV, without any of the maudlin and saccharine side of Masterpiece Theater (not to mention their constant asking for money, even on a bought-and-paid-for DVD).

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