Normally, a cop show would have the older cop stuck in the ways of his time, while the younger cop would be reflective of current values and morals. However, Gently is the one who's more open to other views, which makes sense, since he's had a lot more life experience and probably has had his values questioned many times before.
The episode "Gently With Class" includes a performance of the folk song "Matty Groves", which is about an adulterous noblewoman and her eponymous lover. The cast includes an earl and countess. Just guess what's later revealed about the young man singing Matty's lines.
The ending of "Gently Northern Soul" it turns out that that the girl was killed by some drunken idiot who was too damn lazy/racist to report it seems anti climatic at first. Than you realize that it just highlights how utterly pointless the whole tragedy (which has seen at least one other person get murdered, ton apart two families and helped raise racial tensions) was
In "The Lost Child," it turns out the Groves had to bribe the adoption agency to stop Faith being placed with another couple - who still planned to adopt her twin brother, only for the birth mother to abscond with him, leaving that couple childless. By the end of the episode, the Groves are in the same position, Faith having been returned to her biological mother and their biological son, Gareth, having died.
