The Bletchley Circle
Tags: murder, historical fiction

Plot synopsis:
Susan Gray, Millie, Lucy, and Jean work together at a secret facility at Bletchley to decipher German military codes for the British military, during World War II. After a brief introduction of the four women at Bletchley during the war, the series begins in 1952, seven years after the war's end, when Susan, Millie, Lucy, and Jean have returned to their ordinary lives. As the story begins, Susan learns about a series of murders that has occurred in the London area and begins to recognize patterns connecting the killings. This inspires her to return to her codebreaking past, and she reaches out first to Millie, and then to Lucy and Jean, after unsuccessfully trying to convince the police to follow up her theory about the crimes.
As they all signed orders of secrecy about their work during the war, the two married women (Susan and Lucy), disguise their activities from their husbands as a book club. Failing to secure police involvement, they move from codebreaking and investigation into the realm of field work, with dangerous consequences on several occasions. Scenes of domestic tranquility are contrasted with scenes of the killer stalking and torturing his victims. While initially skeptical about becoming involved, Millie, Jean, and Lucy are convinced to help Susan once they realize the lives of many women are on the line.
The series contrasts the conventional but very different lives of the four women and the sense of usefulness they felt while codebreaking during the war. In the Series 1 finale, the women are forced to confront the man they suspect to be the killer.

Review: A group of women who worked at Bletchley during the war return to their undervalued prewar existences until one of them happens upon a line of enquiry regarding a spate of murders of young women.
She finds old colleagues from the Bletchley years and they form the eponymous circle to crack the code of the killings.
Not believed and told to back down by all men in their lives and the authorities they fight alone to attempt to solve some pretty gruesome murders.
Each of the four women leads is rounded, true and touching in their different ways.
The only thing I would change is the over egged references to the murder being solved as a code: it was as if the writers felt it was a bit of a stretch and so had to 'explain' it all the time and thus made this one aspect a little clumsy and difficult to sustain suspension of disbelief.
A good look at the roles and struggles of women of the period but based on the murder mystery pace and style it is not preachy but accessible and exciting.There have been plenty of hinted at back story lines and there is lots of room for growth and new story lines in a second series - she says with fingers crossed and a begging nod to The makers/funders.
These four women had developed their minds to nearly super-human levels, only to let them rust in the decades following the war.
Great period drama....quite extraordinary how these women went from code breakers in WWII saving thousands of lives to the hum-drum of home life after the war.
Great actors and very interesting..I couldn't stop watching--I found this by accident and was truly impressed with the production quality.
If you like this...watch "Call the Midwives"--another great British show..
a thriller set in post-war England.
"The Bletchley Circle" from 2012 is about women who worked on cracking German military codes during the World War II.
After the war, though they were all very smart, they settled in everyday life that sometimes was less than satisfying.When young women start disappearing and wind up dead in 1952, one of the code-breakers, Susan (Anna Maxwell Martin) becomes interested in the case, sees a pattern emerging, and asks her husband to use a connection to get her in to see the Deputy Commissioner.
Unfortunately, her idea -- the location of the currently missing girl's body -- is incorrect.Discouraged, Susan is sure that she and her old code-breaker friends can find the killer using their code-breaking skills.
It also means putting themselves in danger.I thought this was a suspenseful, intriguing, and interesting story, with the '50s atmosphere, clothing, and hairstyles intact, with strong acting from the actresses.
Because it's a feminist story, meant to show that post-World War II, England didn't need its women any longer, the men in it are annoyed, angry, suspicious, and in one case, violent.
I would say the Deputy Commissioner, despite finding Susan a bit of a nuisance, does follow up on what she says, knowing the job she had during the war and her intelligence; and Susan's husband, though not particularly happy, knows she's a good woman and in the end, has patience with her long hours away from the house.My only question is, where is season 2?
Can't wait for second series, stayed up to was all 3episodes last night!
And yet still women were not considered able or intelligent!Loved the capture of the clothes and fashion from that period it is like stepping back in time!
Sure glad I don't have to though, those men would make want to bop them on the head!The characters are a lovely blend of the range of developing females during that time where they are confident and assured and yet still intimidated and daunted by the role men had them pigeon holed in..
I adore shows with woman as main characters, they are so rare, and this one is thoroughly involving, before you know it-it is over, you are so completely wrapped up in the story, acting; this thriller that you cant believe you drank it all in so sweetly.
Each of the woman has her own life story, each of them come with their own brilliant gift, and all care without being sentimental.
Just when I am excited to have found a new friend- ITV makes a gender biased call-women aren't a powerful enough audience-so why bother?
I enjoy the look of the show, the historical settings, and the impressive production values.The leads also impress with their acting chops and the 1950s milieu is richly evoked for the most part, with only occasional anachronisms.
I won't belabour the plot details (ably done by others here) but part of the 'perfect pitch' is the "Grrl-power" theme which is masterfully suited to our times and very much on-target when it comes to the pursuit of ratings.
The acting, the setting, the dialogues, the realistic problems women faced and still do face - everything is so brilliant.
I am growing more and more interested in British crime shows and have completely forsaken American TV.If you like a typical American style crime shows like How To Get Away With Murder with lots of pretty people having affairs and crying over and over for being 'misunderstood' on God's green earth, then The Bletchley Circle is not for you.It is a gripping and unbelievably realistic and down to earth show.
The pace is good, the character development is excellent, the show is not needlessly critical of our history, it only criticizes the chauvinism when it is necessary, which makes it all the more realistic and haunting.
There is no overcompensation of homosexuality either, like I said earlier, there is no overdose of sex of any kind.It is a plain, brilliant crime show, nothing else..
Gripping series- female characters are diverse in personalities and their non judgemental interactions are refreshing to see .
(Reviewing Season 1) I like British detective stories, I'm interested in problem solving, code breaking, crypts and logic reasoning.
They talk about code breaking, but there's never a real moment you'd feel like you/they actually figured out something relevant.
The story in general is quite interesting, but the script around it is quite yawning.The cast..
The youngest of the circle had a more solid background written in the script, but I'm not sure if I could even distinguish the two remaining women from each other, they were bystanders at best.And even tho one of the ladies had a more solid background written in the script, I'm not sure if it was relevant really.
The acting is great, the pacing and the writing are excellent, and the plot (where these things most often fail) works, too.
In the hands of the masters like Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers it can be brilliant, as long as we accept the formal quaint convention that a little old lady or an English lord might go around solving murders that baffle the police.
In Bletchley Circle instead of one amateur sleuth we get four: a committee of nerdy women who, having worked at code-breaking in WWII, now have not much to do and nothing to challenge their superior minds.
In fact, almost the entire first episode is spent having one of the ladies trying to convince the other three to join the hunt for a vicious serial killer.
They're supposed to be super smart and great at putting together clues from reading newspapers and other evidence they collect, but at the same time they're clueless, bumbling and squeamish.
One nearly gets herself raped trying to bait the killer and they commit various obvious offenses by contaminating crime scenes and stealing evidence.
In detective fiction the reader (or viewer) is supposed to have some idea of the steps that lead to the solution of the case.
In this we are just told the women are doing some heavy thinking and then come out with a result.Another very annoying feature is the heavy feminist bias that muddies the plot.
The mystery-thriller is an old standby and needs new elements to keep it fresh, but remember that gifted amateurs going around solving crimes is a literary convention that requires a willing suspension of disbelief..
Interesting concept, but facile execution.Like Foyles War, this can't get its transport history right.
Susan's husband's car is a 1954 Morris Oxford.Sorry if this sounds pedantic, but it does rather destroy any sense of historical context.I'd also like to know where, in the days before the internet, the intrepid ladies managed to get hold, so easily, of so much information on trains, work rosters and the like.
The viewer has no time to process the end of the previous scene before the next is upon us - often involving the same character arriving in a different location..
Mind you the principal lady,Susan,has incredible difficulty conveying the simplest bit of information to anyone else.Sighs and heaving bosoms convey little to the average chap.
The story itself is incredible.Things become unbelievably(Meldrew,not me) out of control in the last episode.
My feeling is,the Bletchley Circle would have been more gainfully engaged in confidence tricking.Either bringing scammers to boot with their code breaking talents or perhaps,chiseling "not very deserving outfits", themselves.And getting away with it of course.A bit the way Alistair Sim or Sir Alec tended to do things........
The acting is good, as is production and directing.
The idea of flashbacks to the real Bletchley story is clever.I would be more interested in more about the Bletchley days.
This three part murder mystery begins during the Second World War when we are introduced to our protagonists; Susan, Millie, Jean and Lucy; four women who work at Bletchley Park analysing intelligence data to try to figure out the German's plans.
The action then jumps forward a few years to the early fifties when Susan thinks she has spotted a pattern in a series of murders that have recently been reported.
Their analysis of the evidence leads them to the body of another victim and soon they have an idea about how the killer is finding his victims.
As they form theories some are proved wrong others initially lead the wrong way but eventually they learn who the killer is; the problem is by then he is aware that they are after him!This is a solid mystery with a plethora of false leads, suspects who turn out to be innocent and as is often the case a police force who isn't convinced by the evidence presented by the protagonists.
The four main characters are interesting and varied despite their similar wartime background.
Anna Maxwell Martin does a great job as chief protagonist Susan and is ably supported by Rachael Stirling, Julie Graham and Sophie Rundle as Millie, Jean and Lucy respectively.
The series doesn't concentrate on the mystery to the exclusion of all else; we see enough of their family lives to see how attitudes towards women were different back then; there are also subtle reminders to the period such as a newspaper sign mentioning rationing.
Viewers hoping to solve the crime before our amateur sleuths may be a little disappointed that we don't see the killer for some time and when we do attention is drawn to him in a way that makes it fairly obvious that he is the killer I don't think that spoils the story though; there is still plenty of tension as the story approaches its conclusion.
On the strength of this story I'd be pleased if more instalments were commissioned so the four women can investigate further cases..
Many things come together to make a show good, and more are needed to make it great.
But to elevate a show to near-perfection requires far more than just great scripts, direction, settings, and acting, all of which TBC possesses in abundance.
The period sets look realistic enough to make me nostalgic for the land of my birth.
Careful watching of shows like Mad Men, sees props that have had a hard life when they're supposed to be new, harming the overall effect of an historical setting.On the topic of Mad Men, the gentleness of the sexism in TBC is a welcome subtlety, unlike the former show, where it is not just blatant, but at times brutal.Also absent (thankfully) is the mix of races that - along with sexual orientation - is increasingly common (if not mandatory) in many US shows.
There are four central characters, each with their own lives, and in some cases, husbands, but the males are of only superficial value to the scripts and have accordingly minor roles, only providing opportunities for the leads to develop their roles.The actors also bring to life the characters with superb conviction and credibility; the pace is just right, and so too is the idea of them taking a bus to get to a location.
At no stage have I felt like I was watching actors, it was more like being given a glimpse into the lives of real people.
The idea that, during WW2, a group of ordinary women (some of whom may or may not have special abilities -- that's a wee spoiler) could be so instrumental, so pivotal, in the war effort, and yet so ignored afterwards.
Followed by the idea that at least one member of this former squad, in the modern era, would eschew her life as an ordinary housewife to help the police catch a ripper -- and, in the process, re-unite her former team...?
Suddenly the ladies are in the field actually playing cat and mouse with a serial killer.
This is an old school detective movies where crime investigations are based on deductions, clues, etc.
There's no DNA, fingerprints, or other modern methods.The main characters are four British women that used to be code breakers.
They decided to investigate a serial murderer because they found the murderer left behind patterns that they can decode, just like breaking codes during the war.It was an OK movie.
Like when one woman pull out a math book to help figure out the killer's pattern, I thought that was kind of ridiculous.
Fortunately she did not pull out a calculus book or used differential equations.I was able to predict one murder in the movie just by thinking, if she goes to this person for help, wouldn't the serial killer also have guessed it?
It is disappointing these supposedly smart women never thought about the possibility.What is worse, the main character seems to enjoy putting herself in harm's way without thinking.
This thought never occurred to the main character.It is also stupid these women set a trap to lure the killer and then lost track of the bait.It is obvious the movie was written by not so intelligent writers.
There are other similar flaws.Also, the protagonists often reach conclusions without it being clear to the viewer how they have done so, and there are gaps in the logic of the plot.Another sorry example of how mainstream British drama has been dumbed down..
A group of women,each one gifted with a heightened ability, combine their powers of infallible memory,advanced logic,statistical analysis and advanced code deciphering in order to help the authorities capture a serial killer.There is periodic references to the post war psyche and the social oppression of woman.
The main character Susan (Anna Maxwell Martin) cant suppress her ability to recognize patterns, a skill she employed during the War as a member of a top secret government agency referred to as Bletchley (Bletchley Park).
Susan attempts to solve a series of murders to spite her war hero husbands demands that she put her role of dutiful housewife first.Even the police treat her with indifference.Unable to crack the case alone Susan appeals to her former colleagues for help.Each of our heroes are still bound by the values and sense of responsibility that helped win the War. There is a shroud of secrecy regarding their work for the war effort and our heroes cant discuss their experiences with anyone else.This all sounds pretty exciting and this interesting plot started out with some promise.....BUT.........The final climax of this story is a total let down.
The whole thing crash landed with a ridiculously rushed and contrived ending that totally unraveled everything i thought was clever about the story.Like a bomb that never went off this post war thriller was a dud that left me totally disappointed..
Odd. For anyone expecting anything to do with Bletchley Park and code cracking you will be disappointed.
The plot could be attached to almost any 4 women with time on their hands.
They just happened to have worked at Bletchley Park, though you wouldn't know it from the series.We never get to see any real sleuthing and eventually the foursome luck their way into capturing the perpetrator.
Indeed, he almost wills them to capture him so that he can "go out with a bang", with some girlies from the park, as a way of closing the circle that began in Bletchley.The acting was fine.
Unlike Williams in Upstairs Downstairs, I won't be watching this series again, years from now.A rather odd way of shoe-horning WW2 and Blethcley Park into a mystery/thriller but that is to be expected as the years pass.
The setting is good, 4 intelligent woman from the post WW2 era, who were codebreakers during the war.
There is very little actual code breaking, they often jump to conclusions, leaving plot holes behind and there is little logical reasoning or when there is it is often hasted and not worked out properly.
This kills exactly why this show could have been very good: we supposedly have intelligent women yet the show fails to show their intelligence and their work.
Some of the conclusions have not been used at all, or it was not clear for me why they were relevant (like Cotswolds at the end, or the spiral).