7.8 /10 1 Votes
8.2/10 TV Original language(s) English First episode date 12 March 2001 | 7.4/10 IMDb Genre Crime drama Country of origin United Kingdom No. of series 6 Final episode date 1 June 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Nathaniel ParkerSharon SmallLesley VickerageCatherine RussellPaul HickeyShaun ParkesEmma Fielding Cast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries is a British crime drama, broadcast on BBC One from 12 March 2001 to 1 June 2008, encompassing six series and a total of twenty-three episodes. The protagonist, Detective Inspector Thomas "Tommy" Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton (Nathaniel Parker), who is assigned to Scotland Yard, finds himself paired with Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers (Sharon Small). In addition to the tensions involved in solving murder cases, the series thrives on the characters' clashes regarding personality, gender, and class, as Lynley is dapper, male and a peer of the realm, while Havers is untidy, female and comes from a working-class background.
Contents
In August 2007, the BBC announced its intention to stop production of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. Fans of the series mounted a campaign to save the series with a petition and contacts to the BBC, but to no avail. All six series have since been released on DVD, distributed by Acorn Media UK.
Production
All episodes from the first two series and two from the third are based on novels by the American writer Elizabeth George, though the plots and characters are often significantly altered. Later episodes are original stories for television based on her characters. The theme music for the series was composed by Debbie Wiseman. The first episode, A Great Deliverance, was broadcast on 12 and 13 March 2001, becoming the only two-part episode throughout the series run. It was also based on the inaugural Inspector Lynley novel. The first full series began broadcasting on 8 April 2002, with the first episode based on and named after the third novel, Well-Schooled in Murder. The first eleven episodes were based on, and named after, the eleven Inspector Lynley novels published from 1988 to 2001, beginning with the inaugural novel A Great Deliverance, but subsequently departing from the print sequence. Eight more novels have since been published as of 2015.
Filming
Exterior shots of Lynley and Havers' base were filmed at the Bircham Dyson Bell solicitors offices on Broadway, central London. The first episode of series five was notable for being shot in Dungeness in Kent. In the first episode, Lynley drove a Peugeot 607; whereas in both series one and two he drove a Jensen Interceptor; and in later episodes a Bristol 410. Despite the frequently recurring remark in PBS Mystery! presenter Diana Rigg's introductions to the series that Lynley "is the one with the Bentley", he never drove a Bentley on TV. He does, however, drive one in the George novels. In the pilot episode, the character of Helen Clyde was played by Emma Fielding. She was later portrayed by Lesley Vickerage for series one through three and, as Lynley's wife, by Catherine Russell in series four and five.
Cast
Series 6 (2008)
The broadcast of Limbo and Know Thine Enemy was initially postponed: they were due to air on 9 and 16 June 2007 respectively but did not air as scheduled. Their premiere broadcast came on 11 and 18 November 2007 on BBC Entertainment, before being broadcast on BBC One for the first time on 25 May and 1 June 2008 respectively.
International broadcasts
In the United States, all six series were broadcast on PBS from 2002 to 2008.
Episode 4 was the final broadcast of Mystery! before WGBH retooled the classic anthology series, along with Masterpiece Theatre, into Masterpiece.
In December 2014, Knowledge Network began broadcasting the series from the beginning in Canada.