Series 1
9 reviews · average score 4.2 / 5 · total Lovejoy Units 37
Series One — The Divvy Verdict All ten Lovejoy Series One episodes ranked worst to best, with a verdict on the series that arrived fully formed — one leather jacket, one perfect crew, no warm-up required.
The Firefly Cage
The Power of Love – Huey Lewis and the News
First dance in Lavenham. Lovejoy gets dragged into murder and theft before anyone explains what a divvy is. Ends with a boozy mop fight on a boat.
The Axeman Cometh
Half a Boy and Half a Man – Nick Lowe
Post-pilot shenanigans. Lovejoy buys a battered Welsh oak dresser and discovers a hidden compartment stuffed with treasure and several cultural assumptions that wouldn't survive a modern People Team presentation.
The Sting
In a Big Country – Big Country
Lovejoy is hired by a reformed junkie to recover statuettes she stole from her dying father. Charlie Gimbert double-crosses him at the auction. The gang reassembles for what is essentially Newman-and-Redford on £8.50.
Friends, Romans and Enemies
Love Don't Live Here Anymore – Jimmy Nail
A dead master forger sends half the antiques trade on a treasure hunt for Roman coins, while Lovejoy chases clues across the Isle of Man and is repeatedly distracted by a blonde American. Gimbert shoots at his tenant, Dandy survives an attempted murder and somehow Lovejoy still ends up pocketing a few coins for a rainy day.
The Judas Pair
Money for Nothing – Dire Straits
Lovejoy goes hunting for a mythical pair of duelling pistols and somehow ends up trapped in a burning cottage with Jane, a crossbow-wielding maniac and the most dangerous screwdriver in East Anglia.
To Sleep No More
Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears for Fears
A cracking opening, a gloriously daft vicar disguise... and a central mystery that never quite wakes up.
The Real Thing
Two cracking stories compete for centre stage in an overstuffed but thoroughly enjoyable return to form.
The March of Time
Knockin' on Heaven's Door – Eric Clapton
Lovejoy discovers that sometimes the most valuable thing hidden inside an antique isn't gold or jewels, but 170-year-old love letters... and an excuse to impersonate a British Army officer.
Death in Venice (Parts 1 & 2)
I'd Really Love to See You Tonight – Ian McShane stand-in
Lovejoy trades Suffolk mud for Venetian canals in the series' only feature-length outing — forged Old Masters, identical twins, dubious Australians and a conspiracy so tangled even Lovejoy has to explain it twice.