Most television programs take a few years before they begin messing with a good thing. "The Bletchley Circle" boldly shakes up the formula in its second season. The changes are a gamble, some of it perhaps contractually required, and it doesn't represent a positive new direction for the series. The first season of "The Bletchley Circle" was a surprising nail-biter, with a stellar cast and a consistent pulse of suspense that carried from the first episode to the last. The second go-around for the codebreakers and their itchy position in 1950's society has been sliced in two, which ruins any extended run of tension while awkwardly inserting a new cast member into a dynamic that hasn't had time to gel. The show remains intermittently impressive, always boasting top-tier acting, but there's a lack of dramatic consistency as the production tackles two major plots that deserve their own season-long explorations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

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