| The Ruth Rendell mysteries |
| Format |
Mystery |
| Starring |
George Baker
Louie Ramsay
Christopher Ravenscroft |
| Composer(s) |
Brian Bennett |
| Country of origin |
United Kingdom |
| No. of seasons |
12 |
| No. of episodes |
55 (with wexford)
29 (without wexford) |
| Production |
| Executive producer(s) |
Graham Benson
Colin Rogers
Tim Vaughn |
| Production company(s) |
TVS (1987-1992)
Meridian (1994-2000)
Blue Heaven
(1992, 1994-2000) |
| Broadcast |
| Original channel |
ITV |
| Picture format |
4:3, 16:9 |
| Original run |
2 August 1987 (1987-08-02) – 11 October 2000 (2000-10-11) |
The Ruth Rendell mysteries is a British television series made by TVS and Meridian Television (in association with Blue Heaven productions) for ITV between 2 August 1987 and 11 October 2000.
Description [edit]
The series comprises adaptations of the works of Ruth Rendell, many of which are based on her extensive range of short stories. In some cases, the stories were expanded from Rendell's original material or elements from a number of stories were woven together into one episode. A smaller number of episodes were based on Rendell's full-length novels, e.g. Going wrong?!, starring James Callis and Front seat, starring Janet Suzman.
There were a total of 55 episodes centring on the Detective Inspector Wexford stories, starring George Baker and Christopher Ravenscroft, and an additional 29 episodes did not feature Wexford.
Inspector Wexford episodes [edit]
| # |
Episode Title |
Aired |
|
1
|
Wolf to the slaughter: part one
|
2 August 1987
|
|
2
|
Wolf to the slaughter: part two
|
9 August 1987
|
|
3
|
Wolf to the slaughter: part three
|
16 August 1987
|
|
4
|
Wolf to the slaughter: part four
|
23 August 1987
|
|
5
|
A guilty thing surprised: part one
|
19 June 1988
|
|
6
|
A guilty thing surprised: part two
|
26 June 1988
|
|
7
|
A guilty thing surprised: part three
|
3 July 1988
|
|
8
|
Shake hands forever: part one
|
23 September 1988
|
|
9
|
Shake hands forever: part two
|
30 September 1988
|
|
10
|
Shake hands forever: part three
|
7 October 1988
|
|
11
|
No crying he makes
|
23 December 1988
|
|
12
|
No more dying, then?!: part one
|
22 October 1989
|
|
13
|
No more dying, then?!: part two
|
29 October 1989
|
|
14
|
No more dying, then?!: part three
|
5 November 1989
|
|
15
|
A sleeping life: part one
|
12 November 1989
|
|
16
|
A sleeping life: part two
|
19 November 1989
|
|
17
|
A sleeping life: Part three
|
26 November 1989
|
|
18
|
The veiled one
|
17 December 1989
|
|
19
|
Some lie and some die: part one
|
30 September 1990
|
|
20
|
Some lie and some die: part two
|
7 October 1990
|
|
21
|
Some lie and some fie: part three
|
14 October 1990
|
|
22
|
The best man to die: part one
|
21 October 1990
|
|
23
|
The best man to die: part two
|
28 October 1990
|
|
24
|
The best man to die: part three
|
4 November 1990
|
|
25
|
An unkindness of ravens: part one
|
11 November 1990
|
|
26
|
An unkindness of ravens: part two
|
18 November 1990
|
|
27
|
Put on by cunning
|
24 December 1990
|
|
28
|
A new lease of death: part one
|
29 September 1991
|
|
| # |
Episode Title |
Aired |
|
29
|
A new lease of death: part two
|
6 October 1991
|
|
30
|
A new lease of death: part three
|
13 October 1991
|
|
31
|
Murder being once done: part one
|
20 October 1991
|
|
32
|
Murder being once done: part two
|
27 October 1991
|
|
33
|
Murder being once done: part three
|
3 November 1991
|
|
34
|
From doon with death: part one
|
10 November 1991
|
|
35
|
From doon with death: part two
|
17 November 1991
|
|
36
|
Means of evil: part one
|
24 November 1991
|
|
37
|
Means of evil: part two
|
1 December 1991
|
|
38
|
Achilles' heel
|
26 December 1991
|
|
39
|
The speaker of mandarin: part one
|
27 September 1992
|
|
40
|
The speaker of the mandarin: part two
|
4 October 1992
|
|
41
|
The speaker of the mandarin: part three
|
11 October 1992
|
|
42
|
The mouse in the corner: part one
|
18 October 1992
|
|
43
|
The mouse in the corner: part two
|
25 October 1992
|
|
44
|
An unwanted woman: part one
|
1 November 1992
|
|
45
|
An unwanted woman: part two
|
8 November 1992
|
|
46
|
Kissing the gunner's daughter: part one
|
15 November 1992
|
|
47
|
Kissing the gunner's daughter: part two
|
22 November 1992
|
|
48
|
Kissing the gunner's daughter: part three
|
29 November 1992
|
|
49
|
Kissing the gunner's daughter: part four
|
6 December 1992
|
|
50
|
Simisola: part one
|
26 January 1996
|
|
51
|
Simisola: part two
|
2 February 1996
|
|
52
|
Simisola: part three
|
9 February 1996
|
|
53
|
Road rage: part one
|
8 November 1998
|
|
54
|
Road rage: part two
|
9 November 1998
|
|
55
|
Harm done!
|
11 October 2000
|
[1]
|
Non-Wexford episodes [edit]
| # |
Episode Title |
Aired |
|
1
|
Talking to strange men
|
27 December 1992
|
|
2
|
Master of the moor: part one
|
2 September 1994
|
|
3
|
Master of the moor: part two
|
9 September 1994
|
|
4
|
Master of the moor: part three
|
16 September 1994
|
|
5
|
Vanity dies hard: part one
|
24 March 1995
|
|
6
|
Vanity dies hard: part two
|
31 March 1995
|
|
7
|
Vanity dies hard: part three
|
7 April 1995
|
|
8
|
The strawberry tree: part one
|
21 April 1995
|
|
9
|
The strawberry tree: part two
|
28 April 1995
|
|
10
|
Heartstones
|
1 January 1996
|
|
11
|
A dark blue perfume
|
10 January 1996
|
|
12
|
The secret house of death: part one
|
8 March 1996
|
|
13
|
The secret house of death: part two
|
15 March 1996
|
|
14
|
A case of coincidence: part one
|
22 March 1996
|
|
15
|
A case of coincidence: part two
|
29 March 1996
|
|
| # |
Episode Title |
Aired |
|
16
|
The double
|
3 January 1997
|
|
17
|
Bribery and Corruption: part one
|
17 January 1997
|
|
18
|
Bribery and Corruption: part two
|
24 January 1997
|
|
19
|
Thornapple
|
31 January 1997
|
|
20
|
May and June: part one
|
7 February 1997
|
|
21
|
May and June: part two
|
14 February 1997
|
|
22
|
Front seat
|
21 February 1997
|
|
23
|
Going wrong?!: part one
|
2 June 1998
|
|
24
|
Going wrong?!: part two
|
9 June 1998
|
|
25
|
Going wrong?!: part three
|
16 June 1998
|
|
26
|
You can't be too careful!
|
24 December 1998
|
|
27
|
The orchard walls
|
31 December 1998
|
|
28
|
The lake of darkness
|
3 May 1999
|
|
29
|
The fallen curtain
|
6 August 1999
|
[2]
|
Media releases [edit]
In 2007, Network in the UK released 17 mysteries on DVD in a 9-disc box set called The best of Ruth Rendell mysteries (This is taken from the 1994-2000 Meridian series).
The UK DVD set contains 17 televisual adaptations of mystery writer Ruth Rendell's stories, including three of Inspector Wexford's most acclaimed mysteries: Master of the moor, You can’t be too careful!, Vanity dies hard, The orchard walls, Simisola, The fallen curtain, The secret house of death, A case of coincidence, The double, A dark blue perfume, Bribery and Corruption, May and June, Front seat, Going wrong?, Road rage, Lake of darkness, and Harm done!.
Two 3-disc DVD sets are available in the US, with the third set being released on 24 June 2008. In the UK, the series is being repeated through February 2009 on the digital channel ITV3.
References [edit]
External links [edit]
