The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries
| The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries | |
|---|---|
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 23 December 1990 – 29 August 1994 |
The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries is a British detective television series adapted from nine of the novels by Dame Ngaio Marsh about Roderick Alleyn. The pilot episode was shown in 1990, and two series followed, in 1993 and 1994.
In the pilot episode Detective Chief Inspector Alleyn was played by Simon Williams, William Simons played Alleyn's righthand man and "Dr Watson" Detective Inspector Fox, and Belinda Lang starred as the painter Agatha Troy, Alleyn's love interest. Simon Williams was unavailable after the pilot was made, so while Simons and Lang reprised their original roles, the lead character was played by Patrick Malahide in the remaining episodes.
The BBC made nine episodes in all, each based on a separate novel. The eight episodes starring Patrick Malahide are available on DVD in the USA and UK (with a 2012 release of the full series on DVD from Acorn Media UK containing the pilot episode). An Australian DVD set has all nine episodes.
Unlike the original book series, whose first story takes place as early as 1934, after World War I, the pilot and thus all subsequent episodes take place after World War II, with Artists in Crime being set in late 1948.
Episodes
For each episode this list shows both the year the source novel was published and the date of first broadcast (in the UK).
- Artists in Crime (1938 - 23 December 1990)
- Series One
- A Man Lay Dead (1934 - 18 April 1993)
- The Nursing Home Murder (1935 - 25 April 1993)
- Final Curtain (1947 - 2 May 1993)
- Death at the Bar (1939 - 9 May 1993)
- Death in a White Tie (1938 - 16 May 1993)
- Series Two
- Hand in Glove (1962 - 10 January 1994)
- Dead Water (1964 - 1 April 1994)
- Scales of Justice (1958 - 29 August 1994)
| Episode # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Artists in Crime" | Silvio Narizzano | T.R. Bowen | 23 December 1990 |
| 2 | "A Man Lay Dead" | Sarah Pia Anderson | Barbara Machin | 18 April 1993 |
| 3 | "The Nursing Home Murder" | Silvio Narizzano | Kevin Laffan | 25 April 1993 |
| 4 | "Final Curtain" | Martyn Friend | Barbara Machin Hugh Leonard | 2 May 1993 |
| 5 | "Death at the Bar" | Michael Winterbottom | Alfred Shaughnessy | 9 May 1993 |
| 6 | "Death in a White Tie" | John Woods | Ken Jones | 16 May 1993 |
| 7 | "Hand in Glove" | Martyn Friend | Ken Jones | 10 January 1994 |
| 8 | "Dead Water" | John Woods | T.R. Bowen | 1 April 1994 |
| 9 | "Scales of Justice" | Jim Goddard | Cyril Williams | 29 August 1994 |
