Zen, wherefore art thou Zen?

Wine, women and song. The road to ruin...

Sunday evenings are forever changed. For a few weeks we were able to see inside the workings for the Italian detective system through Aurelio Zen, in the drama series based in Rome.

I feel a blast from the past as Zen reminds me of Colombo. You cannot be serious I hear you shout, but yes, I am. Both detectives played the original honest cops dealing with plotting politicians and stressed-out bosses.

But there is one key difference between our Italian policemen.

Columbo would never feature in the best dressed stakes. Yet Zen could walk straight off the set into a magazine shoot. The suit looked Armani, the shoes hand-made probably in Venice and the cufflinks undoubtedly hand crafted in England.

The slightly aloof, quizzical nature and inner calm set Columbo and Zen apart from their colleagues. Admittedly Columbo’s raincoat would not have been allowed to grace the boot of Zen’s car and we never actually met Mrs Colombo.  Zen’s paramour Tania Moretti might well be the road to ruin…