Commisaris Simon "Piet" van der Valk (Barry Foster, Frenzy, Smiley’s People) has the air of a man who has seen it all. And he probably has. As a detective with the Amsterdam police, his daily caseload brings him into regular contact with the seamy underside of the Dutch capital. From brothels to transvestite clubs to drug dens, Van der Valk moves in the city’s dark corners that tourists rarely see. Suave but cynical, the cultured Van der Valk has a taste for the finer things in life--symphony music, good wine, and the cooking of his beautiful French-born wife. But even long-suffering Arlette (Susan Travers) can tell that Piet is most at home when he’s at work. There, alongside easygoing Inspecteur Johnny Kroon (Michael Latimer), every new case is a personal challenge to this unorthodox cop on the streets of old Amsterdam. BONUS: biography of Van der Valk creator, novelist Nicolas Freeling.