8 /10 1 Votes
8.4/10 TV Ending theme idem First episode date 31 August 2003 Language English | 7.7/10 IMDb Genre Crime fiction Country of origin United Kingdom Final episode date 6 August 2007 Networks ITV, STV, UTV | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Created by Brian Eastman
Clive Exton Starring Felicity Kendal
Pam Ferris Opening theme Variation on "Scarborough Fair" Cast Felicity Kendal, Pam Ferris Similar Agatha Christie's Poirot, Midsomer Murders, Murder in Suburbia, Prime Suspect, The Mrs Bradley Mysteries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rosemary & Thyme is a British television cosy mystery series starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris as gardening detectives Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme. The show began on ITV in 2003. The third series ended in August 2007. The theme is murder mysteries in the setting of professional gardening jobs. It was created by Brian Eastman to entertain his wife, Christabel Albery, who is an avid gardener. The show was directed by Brian Farnham (10 episodes, 2003–2006), Simon Langton (8 episodes, 2004–2006), and Tom Clegg (3 episodes, 2003). Clive Exton, who helped create the show, contributed 10 of the 22 scripts.
Contents
Plot
A cosy mystery series set in beautiful English and European gardens, Rosemary & Thyme features two women brought together by a sudden death who discover their shared love of the soil. Being gardeners means that they overhear secrets and dig up clues which lead them to handle floral problems, solve crimes and capture criminals.
Main characters
Laura Thyme (Pam Ferris): The daughter of a farmer and a home gardener; she was a Woman Police Constable (WPC) in North Kensington and a member of "The CADS" (The Coppers' Amateur Dramatic Society) until she had children (Matthew, a policeman and Helena, a sculptor). After twenty-seven years marriage, her policeman husband abandoned her for a younger woman he met at work.
Rosemary Boxer (Felicity Kendal): Has a doctorate in plant pathology and was a University of Malmesbury lecturer in applied horticulture for eighteen years, before her academic position was suddenly and sneakily removed (which pushes her to punch her ex-boss, a former beau, who fired her underhandedly). Rosemary owns a 1980 Land Rover Series III.
The series' title was taken from the English poem "Scarborough Fayre".
While many guests starred, only two people (other than Kendal and Ferris) have appeared in more than one episode, Ryan Philpott and Daisy Dunlop, who appeared as Laura Thyme's children Matthew and Helena.
Finale
On 12 May 2006, ITV announced that the show was to be axed as part of a major refresh in ITV1's programming. The final two episodes of series three ("Racquet Espanol" and "Enter Two Gardeners") were not aired with the rest of the series during 2005-06. They were eventually broadcast in late July and early August 2007.
Because of the outdoor nature of the show and the brevity of the British summer, it became the practice to set two episodes of each series in overseas locations. Two stories were already ready for shooting in Portugal when changes in production personnel caused delays. By the time that shooting was rescheduled, some actors were otherwise committed, and the ITV Network Centre was left with no option but to cancel filming for a fourth series.
Novels
Three novelisations, credited to series creator Brian Eastman and ghostwritten by crime writer Rebecca Tope, were published in Britain by Allison and Busby and in Australia by Hardie Grant Books:
Related media
Composed and conducted by Christopher Gunning, a CD of incidental music and the opening theme (performed by John Williams) from the first two series of Rosemary & Thyme.
"The Case of the Dead Wait", by Peter Lovesey (January 2007 Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine)
DVD releases