The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries#A Man Lay Dead
{{Short description|British detective television series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox television
| alt_name =
| image =
| image_upright =
| caption =
| genre = Crime drama
| writer = {{Unbulleted list|Various}}
| director = {{Unbulleted list|Various}}
| starring = {{Unbulleted list|Patrick Malahide|Belinda Lang|Tim Dutton|Sandy Welch|Leslie Schofield|Mark Penfold|Simon Williams}}
| opentheme =
| country = {{Unbulleted list|United Kingdom}}
| language = {{Unbulleted list|English}}
| num_seasons = 2
| num_episodes = 9
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer = {{Unbulleted list|George Gallacio|Raghav Shome}}
| producer = {{Unbulleted list|Diana Kyle|Michael Bartley}}
| location = {{Unbulleted list|United Kingdom}}
| runtime = 90 minutes
| company = {{unbulleted list|}}
| channel = {{Unbulleted list|BBC One}}
| first_aired = {{Start date|1990|12|23|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1994|08|29|df=y}}
}}
The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries is a British detective television series, broadcast on BBC1, which was adapted from nine of the novels by Dame Ngaio Marsh, featuring the character Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn. The pilot episode was shown in 1990, with Simon Williams playing the part of Alleyn. Two series followed in 1993 and 1994, with Patrick Malahide replacing Williams in the title role.
Premise
In the pilot episode, the character of Alleyn was played by Simon Williams. William Simons was cast as Alleyn's right-hand man and "Dr Watson", Detective Inspector Fox, and Belinda Lang starred as painter Agatha Troy, Alleyn's love interest. When a full series finally came to screen three years later, Simon Williams was unavailable, and the role of Alleyn was filled by Patrick Malahide, while Simons and Lang reprised their roles. Over the course of two series, eight episodes were broadcast, each focusing on a separate novel in the series. Both Malahide series were released on DVD in 2007, via Acorn Media.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inspector-Alleyn-Mysteries-DVD/dp/B000OI1G2Y/|title=The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries|date=14 May 2007|publisher=|via=Amazon}} In 2011, Acorn acquired the rights to the pilot, and in 2012, issued a repackaged version of the set containing the Williams pilot.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inspector-Alleyn-Complete-Patrick-Malahide/dp/B007K8W4Y0/|title=Inspector Alleyn - The Complete Series|date=18 June 2012|publisher=|via=Amazon}} This set was also released in Australia.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inspector-Alleyn-Mysteries-Complete-DVD/dp/B01GWDZGPW/|title=The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries - The Complete Series (5 DVD Set) DVD|publisher=|via=Amazon}} Unlike the original novels, 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.
Cast
- Simon Williams as Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn (pilot only)
- Patrick Malahide as Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn
- William Simons as Inspector Fox
- Belinda Lang as Agatha Troy
- Tim Dutton as D.S. Bailey
- Sandy Welch as D.C. Robinson
- Leslie Schofield as A.C.C. Connors
- Mark Penfold as Doctor Curtis
- Derek Benfield{{cite web|url=https://en.kinorium.com/96723/|title=Alleyn Mysteries (1994)}} as Alfred Belt
- James Aitken as James
Episodes
=Pilot (1990)=
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! style="background: #3198FF;"|Episode # ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Title ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Directed by ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Written by ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Original airdate ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Year of Source Novel |
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=1 |Title={{va|Artists in Crime|Artists in Crime}} |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1990|12|23|df=y}} |DirectedBy=Silvio Narizzano |WrittenBy=Trevor Bowen |ShortSummary=After an artist's model dies in a suspicious incident, Alleyn and his down-to-earth assistant Fox investigate. Matters get complicated with a houseful of suspects, blackmail, another death, and Alleyn's growing attraction to the painter Agatha Troy. |Aux4=1938 |LineColor=3198FF }} |
=Series 1 (1993)=
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! style="background: #3198FF;"|Episode # ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Title ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Directed by ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Written by ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Original airdate ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Year of Source Novel |
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=2 |Title={{va|A Man Lay Dead|A Man Lay Dead}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1993|4|18|df=y}} |DirectedBy=Sarah Pia Anderson |WrittenBy=Barbara Machin |ShortSummary= Alleyn cancels his holiday with Troy to investigate a murder connected to a stolen chalice, but he's called when a second murder occurs at uncle's estate. |Aux4=1934 |LineColor=3198FF }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=3 |Title={{va|The Nursing Home Murder|The Nursing Home Murder}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1993|4|25|df=y}} |DirectedBy=Silvio Narizzano |WrittenBy=Kevin Laffan |ShortSummary= A member of Parliament who has taken controversial stands on Palestine and A-bomb development is murdered during a routine appendectomy. |Aux4=1935 |LineColor=3198FF }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=4 |Title={{va|Final Curtain|Final Curtain}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1993|5|2|df=y}} |DirectedBy=Martyn Friend |WrittenBy=Hugh Leonard |ShortSummary=An egotistical Shakespearean ham actor gathers his dysfunctional extended family in his mansion on his 75th birthday for the reading of his will. |Aux4=1947 |LineColor=3198FF }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=5 |Title={{va|Death at the Bar|Death at the Bar}} |OriginalAirDate= {{Start date|1993|5|9|df=y}} |DirectedBy=Michael Winterbottom |WrittenBy=Alfred Shaughnessy |ShortSummary= During a display of dart throwing in a Cornish pub a man's hand is impaled by a dart, and he dies shortly afterward from cyanide - although no one can explain how. |Aux4=1939 |LineColor=3198FF }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=6 |Title={{va|Death in a White Tie|Death in a White Tie}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1993|5|16|df=y}} |DirectedBy=John Woods |WrittenBy= Ken Jones |ShortSummary= Alleyn enlists the help of his friend Lord Robert "Bunchy" Gospell to uncover a society blackmailer. After Lord Robert is killed, a murder hunt follows among the world of titled heiresses, gamblers and adulterers. |Aux4=1938 |LineColor=3198FF }} |
=Series 2 (1994)=
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! style="background: #3198FF;"|Episode # ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Title ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Directed by ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Written by ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Original airdate ! style="background: #3198FF;"|Year of Source Novel |
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=7 |Title={{va|Hand in Glove|Hand in Glove}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1994|1|10|df=y}} |DirectedBy=Martyn Friend |WrittenBy=Ken Jones |ShortSummary= A divorced and disliked man living in a nobleman's estate is found in a sewer ditch after someone rolled a concrete pipe on his head. |Aux4=1962 |LineColor=3198FF }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=8 |Title={{va|Dead Water|Dead Water}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1994|4|1|df=y}} |DirectedBy=John Woods |WrittenBy=Trevor Bowen |ShortSummary= Alleyn's old French teacher, the landlord of an idyllic Scottish island, is receiving death threats because she's blocking its development as a health spa. |Aux4=1964 |LineColor=3198FF }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=9 |Title={{va|Scales of Justice|Scales of Justice}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1994|8|29|df=y}} |DirectedBy=Jim Goddard |WrittenBy=Cyril Williams |ShortSummary= The publication of a war hero's memoirs and his dispute with a neighbouring fisherman about poaching leads to a murder. |Aux4=1958 |LineColor=3198FF }} |
Syndication
The series aired in the United States on PBS's 'Mystery!' and later on Amazon Prime.{{cite web |title=Inspector Alleyn Mysteries |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/inspector-alleyn-mysteries/1000445970/ |website=TV Guide.com |publisher=TV Guide |access-date=10 November 2023}}{{cite web |title=Alleyn Mysteries |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106084/episodes/?ref_=tt_eps_sm |website=IMDB |access-date=27 November 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0106084|title=The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries}}
- {{Epguides|InspectorAlleynMysteries}}
{{Roderick Alleyn}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, The}}
Category:1990 British television series debuts
Category:1994 British television series endings
Category:1990s British drama television series
Category:Television shows based on British novels
Category:British detective television series
Category:1990s British crime television series
Category:BBC mystery television shows