Wycliffe (TV series)

Wycliffe
Starring	Jack Shepherd Jimmy Yuill Helen Masters
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	5 + 2 Specials in 1993 and 1997
No. of episodes	38
Production
Producer	HTV
Running time	50 minutes (Specials 90 minutes)
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	24 July 1994 (1994-07-24) – 5 July 1998 (1998-07-05)

Wycliffe is a British television series, based on W. J. Burley's novels about Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe. It was produced by HTV and broadcast on the ITV Network, following a pilot episode on 7 August 1993, between 24 July 1994 and 5 July 1998. The series was filmed in Cornwall, with a production office in Truro. Music for the series was composed by Nigel Hess and was awarded the Royal Television Society award for the best television theme. Wycliffe is played by Jack Shepherd, assisted by DI Doug Kersey (Jimmy Yuill) and DI Lucy Lane (Helen Masters).

Each episode deals with a murder investigation. In the early series, the stories are adapted from Burley's books and are in classic whodunit style, often with quirky characters and plot elements. In later seasons, the tone becomes more naturalistic and there is more emphasis on internal politics within the police.

Setting and characters

The Cornish setting is an important feature of the series, providing both picturesque landscapes and glimpses into the local way of life. Many characters work in the tourist industry. Problems of the region such as the struggling fishing industry, long-term unemployment, and prejudice against new age travellers are shown in various episodes. Wycliffe and his team are responsible for a large geographical area and often have to spend time away from home during an investigation. This can cause problems for Wycliffe, who is shown as a contented family man, married to a teacher (Lynn Farleigh) and with two teenage children; it also makes it difficult for Lane and Kersey, who are both single, to form relationships outside work.

Wycliffe's beat appears to cover mainly central and west Cornwall. There are frequent mentions of certain major towns, including the city of Truro, Newquay, Camborne and Penzance (these places were also used as locations). But others in the same area, such as Falmouth, St Austell and St Ives, figure much less frequently. It is reasonable to assume that, as a Detective Superintendent, Wycliffe is the head of CID for one division, the boundary of which appears to run approximately from Padstow on the north coast to St Austell and Carlyon Bay on the south. He does not deal with places in north and east Cornwall, such as Bude or Launceston. Bodmin (actually mainly Bodmin Moor) features strongly in one episode, about the so-called Beast of Bodmin (which is said to be a big cat), but that's about as far east as Wycliffe ever gets. In the final episode ("Land's End") Wycliffe refers to Wadebridge, near Bodmin, as being on "the other side of the county".

(Devon and Cornwall Constabulary is no longer organised as Divisions. In real life, the Major Crime Investigation Team in Cornwall, which would presumably be headed by Wycliffe, is based at Newquay, but his Divisional HQ appears to be somewhere in the Camborne area.)

One of the recurring characters who appeared in 22 episodes, Detective Constable Ian Potter, was played by Adam Barker (son of Ronnie Barker). Adam Barker was jailed in 2012 for possessing child pornography; he had been on the run for eight years.

Miscellanea

Wycliffe's hobby of playing jazz piano reflects Jack Shepherd's interest in music. Shepherd did all his own piano playing in the series. Helen Masters became pregnant at the beginning of Series 5 and scripts were adjusted so that her character, Lane, could also be pregnant. Many of the smaller places mentioned are fictional.

Murder investigations and police themes

The series shows detective and forensic work in a reasonably accurate way, but the emphasis is more on the human stories surrounding the murders. Wycliffe is a quiet, thoughtful man, a skilled observer of people and an astute interviewer, and these qualities enable him to solve the crimes.

Internal police politics provide slow-burning story arcs in the later series, with Wycliffe constantly having to deal with red tape, budget restraints and a blustering, image-obsessed Deputy Chief Constable. Lane is offered promotion, though she later realises she is being used to fulfil sexual equality quotas in the force rather than being judged on her ability; as a result there are tensions between her and Kersey, though they have previously been close. Kersey is the subject of an internal investigation and is forced to reconsider his future career after being accused of causing the death of a prisoner in custody.

Wycliffe's frequent meetings with the Deputy Chief Constable, Stevens, are slightly odd. In real life, there would almost certainly be a Detective Chief Superintendent as the head of CID throughout the force, who would report in turn to one of a series of Assistant Chief Constables, each with a particular responsibility such as Operations or Personnel. The Deputy Chief Constable is normally too senior to be troubled with operational details, unless a major crisis occurs.

The police force is described as "South West Constabulary", which is a fictional title. However, assuming that SWC covers at least Cornwall and Devon (which is a real force area), it is also strange that Stevens is so often on hand, and even appears to have an office in the Divisional HQ. Such a postholder would really be based at County HQ (in the case of the real life Devon and Cornwall Constabulary the HQ is at Exeter) and not be so free to get in Wycliffe's way.

A feature-length 'special' was filmed between Series 4 and Series 5, which ended with Wycliffe being shot by a criminal. During Series 5, he is shown struggling to recover from the trauma of this injury; the darker tone of this series culminates with Wycliffe falsely accused of a crime and only proven innocent at the last moment.

On occasion, the plot of an episode could anticipate events in real life. In the episode "Dead on arrival" (Series 3, Episode 1), broadcast on 9 June 1996, several illegal immigrants were found to be suffocated in an airtight container lorry. Four years later, fifty-eight illegal immigrants did indeed suffocate in a lorry in Dover, an event which inspired the Hong Kong action film Stowaway.

List of episodes

Wycliffe ran for five series from 24 July 1994 to 5 July 1998, and included a pilot episode (originally shown on 7 August 1993) and a Christmas special shown between the fourth and fifth series.

Series		Episodes	Originally Aired		DVD Releases			DVD Runtime
			From	To	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	One	7†	24 July 1994	28 August 1994	17 February 2009	27 July 2009	2 February 2008	380 mins
	Two	8	18 June 1995	6 August 1995	13 October 2009	5 April 2010	3 May 2008	400 mins
	Three	8	9 June 1996	11 August 1996	29 June 2010	30 August 2010	2 August 2008	400 mins
	Four	8	29 June 1997	17 August 1997	16 November 2010	18 October 2010	1 November 2008	400 mins
	Five	7‡	17 May 1998	5 July 1998	16 November 2010	21 February 2011	28 February 2009	375 mins

Notes:
^† includes the pilot episode originally aired on 7 August 1993.
^‡ includes the Christmas special originally aired on 27 December 1997.

Series 1

The first series of Wycliffe was originally aired on ITV in the summer of 1994.

The pilot episode was originally aired one year earlier than the commissioned first series, in the summer of 1993. The cast of the pilot differs from that used for the commissioned series; Jack Shepherd plays Wycliffe in both the pilot and the commissioned series.

Series No.	Episode No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original Air Date	Length
1	n/a†	"Wycliffe and the Cycle of Death"	Pennant Roberts	Julia Jones	7 August 1993 (1993-08-07)	95min
1	1	"The Four Jacks"	Ferdinand Fairfax	Edward Canfor-Dumas	24 July 1994 (1994-07-24)	60min
1	2	"The Dead Flautist"	Martyn Friend	Steve Trafford	31 July 1994 (1994-07-31)	60min
1	3	"The Scapegoat"	Martyn Friend	Russell Lewis	7 August 1994 (1994-08-07)	60min
1	4	"The Tangled Web"	Ferdinand Fairfax	Andrew Holden	14 August 1994 (1994-08-14)	60min
1	5	"The Last Rites"	A. J. Quinn	Rob Heyland	21 August 1994 (1994-08-21)	60min
1	6	"The Pea Green Boat"	A. J. Quinn	Steve Trafford	28 August 1994 (1994-08-28)	60min

Notes:
^† pilot episode.

Series 2

The second series of Wycliffe was originally aired on ITV in the summer of 1995.

Series No.	Episode No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Length
2	7	"All for Love"	Martyn Friend	Steve Trafford	18 June 1995 (1995-06-18)	60min
2	8	"The Trojan Horse"	Patrick Lau	Steve Trafford	25 June 1995 (1995-06-25)	60min
2	9	"Charades"	Martyn Friend	Jonathan Rich	2 July 1995 (1995-07-02)	60min
2	10	"Lost Contact"	Patrick Lau	Isabelle Grey	9 July 1995 (1995-07-09)	60min
2	11	"Four and Twenty Blackbirds"	Steve Goldie	Julian Jones	16 July 1995 (1995-07-16)	60min
2	12	"Happy Families"	Steve Goldie	Sian Orrells	23 July 1995 (1995-07-23)	60min
2	13	"Wild Oats"	Michael Owen Morris	Patrick Harkins	30 July 1995 (1995-07-30)	60min
2	14	"Breaking Point"	Michael Owen Morris	Steve Trafford	6 August 1995 (1995-08-06)	60min

Series 3

The third series of Wycliffe was originally aired on ITV in the summer of 1996. There was a short hiatus in the third series due to ITV's coverage of the Euro '96 football tournament.

Series No.	Episode No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Length
3	15	"Dead on Arrival"	Michael Owen Morris	Steve Trafford	9 June 1996 (1996-06-09)	60min
3	16	"Number of the Beast"	Michael Owen Morris	Jonathan Rich	16 June 1996 (1996-06-16)	60min
3	17	"Slave of Duty"	David Innes Edwards	Jonathan Rich	7 July 1996 (1996-07-07)	60min
3	18	"Total Loss"	David Innes Edwards	Isabelle Grey	14 July 1996 (1996-07-14)	60min
3	19	"Crazy for You"	Martyn Friend	Tom Needham	21 July 1996 (1996-07-21)	60min
3	20	"Faith"	Martyn Friend	Sian Orrells	28 July 1996 (1996-07-28)	60min
3	21	"Last Judgement"	John Glenister	Carolyn Sally Jones	4 August 1996 (1996-08-04)	60min
3	22	"Old Habits"	John Glenister	Scott Cherry	11 August 1996 (1996-08-11)	60min

Series 4

The fourth series of Wycliffe was originally aired on ITV in the summer of 1997.

Series No.	Episode No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Length
4	23	"Strangers"	Alan Wareing	Peter J Hammond	29 June 1997 (1997-06-29)	60min
4	24	"Close to Home"	David Innes Edwards	Isabelle Grey	6 July 1997 (1997-07-06)	60min
4	25	"On Account"	David Innes Edwards	Kevin Clarke	13 July 1997 (1997-07-13)	60min
4	26	"Lone Voyager"	Michael Bayshaw	Philip O'Shea	20 July 1997 (1997-07-20)	60min
4	27	"Seen a Ghost"	Michael Bayshaw	Isabelle Grey	27 July 1997 (1997-07-27)	60min
4	28	"Bad Blood"	Alan Wareing	Scott Cherry	3 August 1997 (1997-08-03)	60min
4	29	"To Sup with the Devil"	Graeme Harper	Carolyn Sally Jones	10 August 1997 (1997-08-10)	60min
4	30	"Old Times, New Crimes"	Graeme Harper	Arthur McKenzie	17 August 1997 (1997-08-17)	60min

Series 5

The final series of Wycliffe was originally aired on ITV in the summer of 1998. The Christmas special was originally aired about five months earlier in December 1997.

The fifth and final series saw Jack Shepherd directing two episodes: "On Offer"; and "Standing Stone". During the filming of this series, Jimmy Yuill fell ill with meningitis. While he was in hospital the production company (HTV) terminated his contract. Though he made a full recovery, the production company (HTV) refused to allow him to return to the programme, apparently for insurance reasons. This caused considerable ill-feeling, and Jack Shepherd made it clear he did not wish to continue as Wycliffe. ITV did not recommission the programme.

Series No.	Episode No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Length
5	n/a†	"Dance of the Scorpions"	Paul Harrison	Arthur McKenzie	27 December 1997 (1997-12-27)	90min
5	31	"On Offer"	Jack Shepherd	Arthur McKenzie	17 May 1998 (1998-05-17)	60min
5	32	"Time Out"	Alan Wareing	Peter J Hammond	24 May 1998 (1998-05-24)	60min
5	33	"Standing Stone"	Jack Shepherd	Carolyn Sally Jones	31 May 1998 (1998-05-31)	60min
5	34	"Feeding the Rat"	Alan Wareing	Isabelle Grey	7 June 1998 (1998-06-07)	60min
5	35	"Scope"	Alan Wareing	John Milne	21 June 1998 (1998-06-21)	60min
5	36	"Land's End"	Alan Wareing	Kevin Clarke	5 July 1998 (1998-07-05)	60min

Notes:
^† Christmas Special.

External links

• Wycliffe at IMDb
• Wycliffe at epguides.com
• "Wycliffe on Television" page at www.wjburley.com